New Process for Producing Epichlorohydrin via Glycerol Chlorination

Abstract

The strong growth of biodiesel production occurring in the last years has determined the availability of a great amount of the byproduct glycerol. Many researches in the world are therefore oriented to find new possible uses for glycerol also with the aim of reducing the cost of biodiesel. In this paper the chlorination of glycerol with gaseous hydrochloric acid to obtain 1,3-dichlorohydrin and then epichlorohydrin will be described. All the advantages of this process will be examined and discussed. The behavior of the different proposed catalysts (normally compounds containing carboxylic acid groups), the reaction kinetics, the effect of the catalyst concentration, the effect of HCl pressure, the vapor-liquid phase equilibria of the reaction products in the reaction environment, and the most convenient operative conditions have been studied, concluding with useful suggestions for the design of the industrial plants.

A sustainable, eugenol-derived epoxy resin with high biobased content, modulus, hardness and low flammability: Synthesis, curing kinetics and structure–property relationship

“…Although an alternative way to synthesize from glucose has been reported [6], but the industrial scale-up of this biobased process is still far from being achieved. On the other hand, epichlorohydrin is highly toxic and mainly produced from allyl chloride, and using renewable and nontoxic glycerol to produce epichlorohydrin is another sustainable alternative [7,8], showing a great commercial importance in the further. BPA is widely used to manufacture epoxy resins and certain plastics such as polycarbonate for making milk bottles.…”

Efficient and selective conversion of glycidol to 1,2-propanediol over Pd/C catalyst

“…Monochlorohydrins can be obtained by selective hydrochlorination of glycerol [17] or by hydrolysis of epichlorohydrin [18]. Despite glycerol carbonate is an interesting product for the industrial chemistry its practical application is still under development [19], on the contrary the production of epichlorohydrin from glycerol is now an important industrial reality [2].…”

Etherification of Glycerol with Isobutylene to Produce Oxygenate Additive Using Sulfonated Peanut Shell Catalyst

“…9 Etherification of glycerol with an olefin such as isobutylene toward fuel oxygenates recently has been considered a promising and economically viable use for glycerol. 10 Because of low solubility and poor thermal stability, glycerol cannot be directly added into fuel because it will lead to significant engine problems at high temperatures.…”