462
1.2 Glycerol as Biomass: Current Availability and Market
The applications of glycerol can be found back to the initial civilized society of
humans where vegetable oil and animal fat hydrolysis were done in alkaline medium
to manufacture soap [11]. At the time of World War I, glycerol usage was on a high,
overpassing the soap-making industry for nitroglycerin production which is a base
for preparing dynamite and cordite [12].
During World War II, production of glycerol feedstock has moved to petroleumbased origins. The annual production of glycerol globally reached around 1.6 million metric tons which is expected to triple by 2024 [11]. The upsurge in the
production of glycerol in the last decade is largely due to the boom in biofuel production sector. Biodiesel is nothing but the fatty acid esters, obtained from vegetable oils or animal lipids by transesterification with methanol or ethanol [13, 14].
Generally, glycerol is obtained as main by-product during biodiesel production, and
approximately 10 wt% glycerol is produced from the total production of biodiesel.
The United States and the European nations have both decided that they will supply
1.3 billion and 17.4 million tons of biomass per annum [2, 3]. According to a report
published in ‘Roadmap for Biomass Technologies’, 20% of transportation oil will
come from biomass by 2030 [3]. As a consequence, biodiesel progress would be
suffered by the overabundance of glycerol in the market, which also effects on its
commercial value. However, the high price of starting materials, low oxidation stability and poorer cold flow properties hinder its commercialization improvement [4].
1.3 Various Ways of Glycerol Conversion
The usage of glycerol for the production of value-added chemicals is very important
from an industrial point of view as not only glycerol formation occurs in large
amounts amid biodiesel formation but also glycerol being non-toxic, biodegradable
and biosustainable chemical. Nowadays the lower worth of glycerol can project
towards advanced markets in fine chemicals, polymers, biofuel additives, etc. The
multifunctional properties of glycerol can be tuned by various different reaction
routes. It is very obvious that a hefty number of valuable chemicals can be produced
from glycerol. In this chapter we have discussed about the most important catalytic
conversion processes to transform glycerol into valuable chemicals.
Glycerol conversion can be done via various different methodologies like oxidation, dehydration, hydrogenolysis, carbonylation, esterification, etherification, acetalization, reforming, etc. The oxygenated products derived from glycerol mainly
include glyceric acid, acrylic acid, dihydroxyacetone, tartronic acid, hydroxypyruvic acid, etc. The dehydration of glycerol results in the main product acrolein followed by some other by-products like hydroxyacetone, acetol, 3-hydroxypropanal,
etc. The hydrogenolysis of glycerol results in the formation of 1,2 propylene glycol,
1,3 propylene glycol and ethylene glycol. The carbonylation of glycerol has many
K. Bhaduri et al.
1.2 Glycerol as Biomass: Current Availability and Market
The applications of glycerol can be found back to the initial civilized society of
humans where vegetable oil and animal fat hydrolysis were done in alkaline medium
to manufacture soap [11]. At the time of World War I, glycerol usage was on a high,
overpassing the soap-making industry for nitroglycerin production which is a base
for preparing dynamite and cordite [12].
During World War II, production of glycerol feedstock has moved to petroleumbased origins. The annual production of glycerol globally reached around 1.6 million metric tons which is expected to triple by 2024 [11]. The upsurge in the
production of glycerol in the last decade is largely due to the boom in biofuel production sector. Biodiesel is nothing but the fatty acid esters, obtained from vegetable oils or animal lipids by transesterification with methanol or ethanol [13, 14].
Generally, glycerol is obtained as main by-product during biodiesel production, and
approximately 10 wt% glycerol is produced from the total production of biodiesel.
The United States and the European nations have both decided that they will supply
1.3 billion and 17.4 million tons of biomass per annum [2, 3]. According to a report
published in ‘Roadmap for Biomass Technologies’, 20% of transportation oil will
come from biomass by 2030 [3]. As a consequence, biodiesel progress would be
suffered by the overabundance of glycerol in the market, which also effects on its
commercial value. However, the high price of starting materials, low oxidation stability and poorer cold flow properties hinder its commercialization improvement [4].
1.3 Various Ways of Glycerol Conversion
The usage of glycerol for the production of value-added chemicals is very important
from an industrial point of view as not only glycerol formation occurs in large
amounts amid biodiesel formation but also glycerol being non-toxic, biodegradable
and biosustainable chemical. Nowadays the lower worth of glycerol can project
towards advanced markets in fine chemicals, polymers, biofuel additives, etc. The
multifunctional properties of glycerol can be tuned by various different reaction
routes. It is very obvious that a hefty number of valuable chemicals can be produced
from glycerol. In this chapter we have discussed about the most important catalytic
conversion processes to transform glycerol into valuable chemicals.
Glycerol conversion can be done via various different methodologies like oxidation, dehydration, hydrogenolysis, carbonylation, esterification, etherification, acetalization, reforming, etc. The oxygenated products derived from glycerol mainly
include glyceric acid, acrylic acid, dihydroxyacetone, tartronic acid, hydroxypyruvic acid, etc. The dehydration of glycerol results in the main product acrolein followed by some other by-products like hydroxyacetone, acetol, 3-hydroxypropanal,
etc. The hydrogenolysis of glycerol results in the formation of 1,2 propylene glycol,
1,3 propylene glycol and ethylene glycol. The carbonylation of glycerol has many
K. Bhaduri et al.