1School of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Engineering Campus, Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia
Chemical Engineering and Science.
2013,
Vol. 1 No. 4, 79-86
DOI: 10.12691/ces-1-4-6
Copyright © 2013 Science and Education PublishingCite this paper: Zahra Gholami, Ahmad Zuhairi Abdullah, Keat Teong Lee. Selective Etherification of Glycerol over Heterogeneous Mixed Oxide Catalyst: Optimization of Reaction Parameters.
Chemical Engineering and Science. 2013; 1(4):79-86. doi: 10.12691/ces-1-4-6.
Correspondence to: Zahra Gholami, School of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Engineering Campus, Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia. Email:
zgholami@gmailcomAbstract
Glycerol etherification catalyzed by heterogeneous mixed oxide catalyst (Ca1.6La0.4Al0.6O3) was studied in a batch reactor and effects of different parameters on the reaction and distribution of the products during the etherification reaction were also studied. The catalyst showed the high selectivity to (di- + tri-) glycerol (88%) at 96.3% conversion, at 250°C, 8h of reaction time and 2 wt.% of catalyst loading. The variations of diglycerol isomers (αα’, αβ, and ββ’) versus reaction time were studied for these catalyst and αα’ dimer was the favored diglycerol isomer, indicated that the reaction mainly occurred on the external surface of the catalyst. Reaction parameters were optimized based on this catalyst and the relationships between reaction parameters were investigated. The statistical optimal values of variables were obtained where the CCRD and the response at the different points yielded maximum diglycerol yield and a quadratic polynomial equation was developed.
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