A hydrothermally stable catalyst for glycerol dehydration

What is it about?

SAPO-40, a microporous material of the silicoaluminophosphate family, was used as catalyst for the gas-phase dehydration of glycerol. Selectivity above 70% was observed with different experimental conditions. The catalyst has proved to be highly resistant to the presence of water at high temperature and can be regenerated without structural changes. The long-term deactivation of SAPO-40 was compared with that of SAPO-34 and SAPO-11.

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Why is it important?

The valorization of glycerol, a by-product of the biodiesel manufacture, is of paramount interest to improve the economics of the biodiesel production, providing at the same time the industry with important and versatile feedstocks. One important route for the transformation of glycerol is the dehydration to acrolein, which has significant applications in agriculture and polymer industry. Currently, acrolein is produced by the oxidation of propylene. In order to avoid a purification step, the dehydration of glycerol is carried out in presence of water. Therefore, a catalyst resistant to the presence of water at reaction temperature is mandatory. SAPO-40 fulfills this requirement and shows a very good catalytic performance.