Glycerol etherification over acid ion exchange resins: effect of catalyst concentration and reusability

Abstract

Background A study of the effect of different ion exchange resins, Amberlyst 15, Amberlite 200 and Amberlite IRC‐50, on glycerol etherification with tert‐butyl alcohol was performed. The best catalyst was selected based on the activity and selectivity values. The capability of reusing this catalyst after different pre‐treatments was analysed. A kinetic model was developed including the effect of catalyst concentration and temperature. Results Amberlyst 15 led to the highest glycerol conversion, the highest product yield, and it could be reused following proper pre‐treatment with methanol. The effect of catalyst concentration was evaluated and included in a previous kinetic model. Simulated results were found to be suitably fitted to the experimental ones. Conclusions The high activity value of Amberlyst 15 is related to its high acidity and better textural properties. Reuse of this catalyst was possible with an appropriate previous treatment. A kinetic model was validated including the effect of catalyst concentration and temperature on reactants conversion and products distribution. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry

Batch reactor coupled with water permselective membrane: Study of glycerol etherification reaction with butanol

“…The reaction pattern considered when tert-butylation of glycerol is carried out in presence of an O-alkylating agent, such as isobutylene (IB), or tert-butyl alcohol (TBA) [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] is shown in Scheme 3.…”

“…Anyhow, glycerol etherification reaction in presence of linear alcohols is not widely studied since it is thermodynamically much more difficult than in presence of tert-butyl alcohol. In addition, in presence of an alcohol, water is formed as by-product with consequent negative effects on catalytic activity and selectivity [13][14][15]. The water formed in each step in fact competes with reactants on the active site adsorption, preventing the total glycerol conversion and the formation of desired poly-substituted ethers [19].…”

“…These compounds could led to the formation of undesirable deposits during combustion in the diesel engine, therefore they must be removed from the ethers mixture before its use as additive. The use of a liquid reagent instead of gaseous IB could be favourable since it can act both as reactant and solvent allowing to overcome the technological problems arising from the need to operate with solvents to dissolve glycerol or the need to use pressure to keep IB in the liquid phase [11][12][13][14][15]. On this account, to date, the catalytic etherification of glycerol has been studied starting from tert-butyl alcohol (TBA), which is a by-product of polypropylene production.…”

An Overview of the Production of Oxygenated Fuel Additives by Glycerol Etherification, Either with Isobutene or tert-Butyl Alcohol, over Heterogeneous Catalysts

“…Pico et al [73,74] studied the capability of several ion exchange resins, A-15, A-200, and Amberlite IRC-50, to be reused, concluding that no significant losses of activity were observed for the spent catalysts. The highest activity was obtained over A-15 (X G = 80%), and was explained on the basis of its better textural properties in addition to its well-known acidity.…”

Alternative fuel additives from glycerol by etherification with isobutene: Structure–performance relationships in solid catalysts

“…Isobutene (IB) , butanol [25,[49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65]70], glycerol [66][67][68][69], and refinery fractions [40,71] were used for the etherification reaction as alkylation agents. Among these routes, the etherification of glycerol with IB and butanol is important as the reaction products can be directly blended with fuels.…”