Value-Added Chemicals from Glycerol

Among the alternative and renewable fuels, biodiesel derived from plants, such as soybeans, palm, and rapeseeds, has made great contributions to the liquid fuel supply. With the growth of biodiesel production, its principle co-byproduct, crude glycerol, is expected to reach a global production of 6 million tons in 2025. In the US, around 0.6 million tons of glycerol are expected to enter the market in 2025. US glycerol is mainly derived from biodiesel production using soybeans as the feedstock and it has become an excessive product with little value due to the large volume of biodiesel production. To improve the sustainability of agricultural, especially oilseeds production and generate higher profits for biodiesel production, using glycerol as a starting material for value-added chemical production will create a new demand on the glycerol market. This chapter reviews recent development on chemicals derived from glycerol, focusimg on thermochemical catalytic routes that have been put in a commercial production or have great potential for commercial productions. This chapter also looks at the current status of glycerol commercial uses as well as understudied technologies and their potential for producing value-added chemicals with glycerol as a starting material. Obstacles for efficiently converting glycerol are also discussed. (C) 2014 American Chemical Society