Liquid phase conversion of Glycerol to Propanediol over highly active Copper/Magnesia catalysts

Abstract

In this work, a series of Cu/MgO catalysts with different copper metal loading were prepared by the precipitation-deposition method. Their catalytic behaviour was investigated for glycerol hydrogenolysis to 1,2-propanediol (1,2-PDO). The physico-chemical properties of the catalysts were characterized by various techniques such as BET surface area, X-ray diffraction (XRD), temperature programmed reduction (TPR), NH 3 -temperature programmed desorption (NH 3 -TPD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) methods. The characterization results showed that the copper metal was well-dispersed over MgO support and a new phase Cu-MgO was also identified from XRD results after calcination. The 25Cu/MgO (Cu:25 wt%) catalyst exhibited the highest glycerol conversion of 88.7% and 1,2-PDO selectivity of 91.7% at 210 • C, 4.5 MPa of hydrogen pressure after 12 h. The high glycerol conversion was mainly due to the Cu dispersion on MgO support and high acidic strength. Further, the effects of temperature, hydrogen pressure, catalyst loading and glycerol concentration were studied over 25Cu/MgO catalyst for optimization of reaction parameters. Kinetic study over highly active 25Cu/MgO catalyst showed that the reaction followed the pseudo second order rate with respect to glycerol and the apparent activation energy was found to be 28.7 ± 0.8 kcal/mol.

Glycerol hydrogenolysis using a Ni/Ce‐Mg catalyst for improved ethanol and 1,2‐propanediol selectivities

“…Surface basic sites were detected for the catalysts promoted with Zn and Mg, with more surface basic sites in the latter than in the former. The presence of surface basic sites in these catalysts supports the suggestion that basic sites play a key role in improved 1,2‐PDO selectivity . As Mg content in the catalysts was reduced, the total amount of surface basic sites was also reduced.…”

Catalytic renovation of non‐edible oil to biodiesel production through sulfated Mg‐Al 2 O 3 (10) catalysts

“…SEM image, elemental mapping, and EDAX spectrum of S2/Mg‐Al 2 O 3 (10) catalyst is shown in Figure 6A‐F. The SEM image of Mg‐Al 2 O 3 (10) support appears to cover the surface uniformly, and the elemental mapping and EDAX spectrum also confirmed the presence of Mg, Al and O elements as shown in Figure S1 44 . The S2/Mg‐Al 2 O 3 (10) catalyst displayed the spherical shape morphology with agglomeration of particles due to the sulfidation, as shown in Figure 6A.…”

Re‐evaluation of propane‐1,2‐diol (E 1520) as a food additive

“…In the literature other methods for manufacturing of propane‐1,2‐diol are reported or proposed, based on a liquid‐phase high pressure reaction (600 atmospheres) of synthetic gas in the presence of a rhodium cluster complex (ASTDR, ), an hydrogenolysis of glycerol by using various catalysts like: copper, nickel or noble metals (Bozga et al., ), highly active copper/magnesia (magnesium oxide) catalysts (Pudi et al., ) or a copper/zinc/magnesia catalyst (Mondal et al., ), chromium oxide, or ruthenium or platinum/tungsten catalysts (Kutz et al., ), via fermentation of deoxy sugars (i.e. rhamnose) or other substrates by using Clostridia, Enterobacteriaceae or yeasts (Tanaka et al., ; Kutz et al.…”

“…• an hydrogenolysis of glycerol by using various catalysts like: copper, nickel or noble metals (Bozga et al, 2011), highly active copper/magnesia (magnesium oxide) catalysts (Pudi et al, 2015) or a copper/zinc/magnesia catalyst (Mondal et al, 2017), chromium oxide, or ruthenium or platinum/tungsten catalysts (Kutz et al, 2017),…”