Investigation of reaction routes for direct conversion of glycerol over zirconia–iron oxide catalyst

Conversion of glycerol to useful chemicals was examined using a zirconia–iron oxide catalyst. An aqueous glycerol solution was used as feedstock, and the catalytic reaction was carried out in a fixed-bed flow reactor at 623 K under atmospheric pressure. Useful chemicals, for example propylene, allyl alcohol, carboxylic acids, and ketones, were obtained from the aqueous glycerol solution. The reaction was found to involve a series of consecutive reactions, with allyl alcohol and carboxylic acids as reaction intermediates which were converted to propylene and ketones, respectively. Moreover, the catalyst had high and stable activity in the reaction of a 50 wt% glycerol solution.