Toward sustainable and eco-efficient novel catalytic distillation process for production of solketal using seepage catalytic packing internal

The initial aim of this paper is to dramatically improve the post-treatment stage of biodiesel production, which converts problematic glycerol to solketal (SK), by introduction of an eco-efficient integrated reactive and dividing wall distillation process. To overcome the chemical equilibrium limitations and the long post-treatment process with the high energy consumption and waste water emission, this study provides the potentially, sustainable and novel reactive distillation (RD) process for cleanly catalytic synthesis of SK, taking into account costs and environmental impact. The ketalization kinetics experiments were carried out to provide a basis for subsequent experiments and simulations. A reliable model was established for further RD technological design and validated by the pilot-scale experiments. Through sensitivity analysis, the effects of multiplex parameters in RD process were determined. The advanced intensification of SK production by reactive dividing wall column (RDWC) achieves reduction in energy, total annual cost (TAC) and CO2 emissions of 13.9 %, 18.2 % and 16.4 % (as oil resources), respectively, compared to the optimal SK production by RD process. This proposed technology is also compared with the conventional industrial route of ketalization with 18.7 % energy saving.

Automated summary

The aim of this study is to improve the post-treatment stage of biodiesel production by introducing an eco-efficient integrated reactive and dividing wall distillation process. Through experiments and simulations, a reliable model for the production of solketal (SK) was established and validated. The advanced intensification of SK production by reactive dividing wall column (RDWC) achieved significant reductions in energy consumption, total annual cost (TAC), and CO2 emissions compared to traditional methods.