ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Sustainable synthesis of automobile fuel additive from glycerol and acetone and catalyst reusability studies

Lakshmana Rao Jeeru, Narayan C. Pradhan, Paul Naveen, Ramesh Kumar Guduru, and BVS Praveen

Department of Petroleum Engineering, School of Energy Technology, Pandit Deendayal Energy University, Raisan, Gandhinagar, India

E-mail: Lakshmanarao.Jeeru@spt.pdpu.ac.in

Received: 14 April 2023  Accepted: 13 September 2023

Abstract:

The present study examined the production of Solketal, a gasoline additive, using glycerol and acetone. For the ketalization experiments, a potential cation exchange resin Ceralite IR-120 was utilized. The effect of agitation speed, temperature, catalyst dosage, and feed composition on the rate of glycerol conversion was studied. For a molar ratio of 1:16 between glycerol and acetone, the experimental results indicated a conversion rate greater than 90%. The experimental studies indicate low mass transfer resistances. The activation energy for the chemical reaction was calculated to be 54.34 kJ/mol, indicating that kinetics rather than thermodynamics dominates this process. A pseudo-homogeneous reaction model that characterizes the acetalization process over the catalyst also concurred with the experimentally determined conversion rate. Catalyst reusability studies showed catalytic activity for up to six recycles.

Keywords: Heterogeneous catalyst; Biodiesel; Glycerol; Acetone; Solketal; Acetalization; Reusability

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1007/s11696-023-03088-5

Chemical Papers 78 (1) 321–329 (2024)