Glycerol to Solketal for Fuel Additive: Recent Progress in Heterogeneous Catalysts

Is Fatimah, Imam Sahroni, Ganjar Fadillah, Muhammad Miqdam Musawwa, Teuku Meurah Indra Mahlia and Oki Muraza
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Is Fatimah: Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Islam Indonesia, Jl. Kaliurang Km 14, Sleman, Yogyakarta 55584, Indonesia
Imam Sahroni: Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Islam Indonesia, Jl. Kaliurang Km 14, Sleman, Yogyakarta 55584, Indonesia
Ganjar Fadillah: Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Islam Indonesia, Jl. Kaliurang Km 14, Sleman, Yogyakarta 55584, Indonesia
Muhammad Miqdam Musawwa: Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Islam Indonesia, Jl. Kaliurang Km 14, Sleman, Yogyakarta 55584, Indonesia
Teuku Meurah Indra Mahlia: School of Information, Systems and Modelling, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia
Oki Muraza: Center of Research Excellence in Nanotechnology and Chemical Engineering Department, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 15, 1-14

Abstract: Biodiesel has been successfully commercialized in numerous countries. Glycerol, as a byproduct in biodiesel production plant, has been explored recently for fuel additive production. One of the most prospective fuel additives is solketal, which is produced from glycerol and acetone via an acetalization reaction. This manuscript reviewed recent progress on heterogeneous catalysts used in the exploratory stage of glycerol conversion to solketal. The effects of acidity strength, hydrophobicity, confinement effect, and others are discussed to find the most critical parameters to design better catalysts for solketal production. Among the heterogeneous catalysts, resins, hierarchical zeolites, mesoporous silica materials, and clays have been explored as effective catalysts for acetalization of glycerol. Challenges with each popular catalytic material are elaborated. Future works on glycerol to solketal will be improved by considering the stability of the catalysts in the presence of water as a byproduct. The presence of water and salt in the feed is certainly destructive to the activity and the stability of the catalysts.

Keywords: fuel additives; biodiesel; glycerol; solketal; solid acid catalysts. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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