Developing a Flexible Economic Model for the Production of Chemical Products From Waste Crude Glycerol

Biodiesel is a sustainable and clean source of energy both in the manufacturing process and upon consumption. Additionally, it is produced from renewable resources such as vegetable oils or animal fats. However, the process of manufacturing biodiesel from vegetable oils is the generates glycerol as a byproduct. In the biodiesel production process, 1 kg of glycerol is generated for every 9 kg of biodiesel produced.

Previous research has identified numerous industrially important chemical products that can be manufactured from glycerol. In particular, many C3 compounds, currently manufactured from propylene can also be manufactured from bio-based glycerol. Some of these products include: 1,2-propanediol, 1,3-propanediol, acrolein, hydroxyacetone and acrylic acid. Developing process models for the production of these, and other products, from glycerol will be useful because it will identify which products are the most economically viable and establish cost targets for switching production from crude oil derived propylene to glycerol.

This contribution is focused on development the process simulation models that will serve as the basis for a flexible economic model for determining the optimal product slate for a multipurpose reactor based on glycerol dehydration chemistry. The process simulation models produced from this research will also be based on minimizing the environmental impact while providing industries with economically efficient and technically feasible processes. To achieve this, the Waste Reduction (WAR) algorithm, developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, will be applied to evaluate the potential environmental impact (PEI) of chemical process developed as part of this research. This analysis will be part of a holistic approach performed by applying process simulation in combination with laboratory experiments for the conceptual design of chemical processes.