Open AccessA Review of Catalytic Upgrading of Biodiesel Waste Glycerol to Valuable Products
Author(s) -
Xuelian Li,
Quan Zhou,
Shen-Xi Pan,
Ye He,
Fei Chang
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
current green chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2213-347X
pISSN - 2213-3461
DOI - 10.2174/2213346107666200108114217
Subject(s) - glycerol , biodiesel , biodiesel production , valorisation , petrochemical , dihydroxyacetone , raw material , glyceraldehyde , chemistry , organic chemistry , polyol , catalysis , pulp and paper industry , waste management , engineering , polyurethane , dehydrogenase , enzyme
Glycerol is an organic polyol compound, and is an important raw material with extensiveapplications in daily/petrochemical and pharmaceutical industry. Glycerol is typically obtained bypropylene chlorination, while the method used is complicated process and requires high energy consumption.Interestingly, glycerol is recognized as a major by-product of biodiesel production. Approximately100 kg of glycerol is yielded for 1 tonne of biodiesel production. With the rapid developmentof the biodiesel industry, glycerol production capacity has been a serious surplus. This review introducesthe selective conversion of glycerol into a variety of value-added chemicals such as propyleneglycol, propanol, glyceraldehyde, and dihydroxyacetone via selective hydrogenation and oxidation, aswell as hydrocarbons and ethers via pyrolysis, gasification and etherification, respectively. The efficiencyof different types of catalysts and the influence of reaction parameters on the valorisation ofglycerol have been elucidated. Emphasis is also laid on the study of catalytic mechanisms and pathwaysfor some specific reactions.