Nowadays glycerol is obtained as the co-product of two reactions of triglycerides transformation: the trans-esterification with methanol to produce biodiesel, and the hydrolysis to produce fatty acids. Before it is used, glycerol needs to be refined. However, the high cost of purification steps and the difficulty of the market to absorb the overcapacity lead many companies to incinerate glycerol. This is not in line with the principle of Green Chemistry, which encourages the use of renewable resources to replace the traditional fossil-based building blocks. During latest years, the valorization of glycerol as a platform molecule for the synthesis of chemicals and fuel additives has become an interesting industrial option. In particular, its dehydration to produce acrolein seems to be one of the most economically affordable ways. For this reason, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach was applied to the industrial production of acrolein starting from glycerol, comparing the two main routes to produce it. The first scenario involves the trans-esterification of biomass-based triglycerides, the second one the hydrolysis of triglycerides obtained from tallow. Both scenarios were modeled using data sourced by companies, and literature as well (patents, encyclopedia and database). LCA analysis was carried out using SimaPro software and ReCiPe2008 method. Results, expressed in terms of midpoint categories, show the worst trend for the scenario which involves the trans-esterification process, due to the higher impacts associated with the biomass cultivation. However, the biodiesel production could lead benefits in replacing diesel consumption, which reflects on fossil fuel depletion category. On the other hand, animal growth need great energy and mass consumption; nevertheless the avoided production of fatty acids from dedicated biomass helps to avoid impacts in terms of agricultural land occupation and terrestrial ecotoxicity. Finally, in order to validate the model created, a sensitivity analysis using Monte Carlo method was performed.

Acrolein production using glycerol as a feedstock: A life cycle perspective

248th National Meeting (2014)

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