Utilization of Glycerol by Ketalization Reactions with Acetone to Produce Solketal using Indion 225 Na as Catalyst

The increase of biodiesel production would cause an increase of glycerol as by-products. In the present study, utilization of glycerol by-products to form solketal using Indion 225 Na as a catalyst was investigated. The intrinsic kinetic data were taken in a batch reaction. The results showed that the temperatures and catalyst concentration have a significant influence on the conversion of glycerol. However, varying the acetone to glycerol ratio only had a marginal impact on glycerol conversion. A kinetic model based on Eley Rideal mechanism was developed to describe the reaction mechanism over the catalyst. The simulation results of glycerol conversion were compared to experimental data at temperatures from 308 K to 328 K. From the kinetic model, it was found that the pre-exponential factor of 2.59 min-1, activation energy of 21.16 kJ/mol, acetone adsorption equilibrium of 0.62, and solketal desorption equilibrium of 0.03 were obtained. Comparison between the experimental and calculated glycerol concentrations showed that the model described the data well within the temperature range of 308 K to 328 K. © Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia.