V. Thiruchitrambalam, H.K. Mishra, D.D. Das, N.N. Bakhshi and A.K. Dalai*

Catalysis and Chemical Reaction Engineering Laboratories

Department of Chemical Engineering

University of Saskatchewan

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

Phone: (306)966-4771

Fax: (306)966-4777

E-mail: dalai@engr.usask.ca

Decrease of fossil fuel reserves has created considerable interest in using alternative sources of energy. Biodiesel is one of the alternative fuels, produced from domestic, as well as renewable resources. Biodiesel is made through a chemical process, called transesterification, whereby glycerol is separated from the fat or vegetable oil. Two products, formed in this process are biodiesel and glycerol. As a significant amount, about 10 wt%, of glycerol is obtained, during transesterification of oil; it is desired to find a useful application for the glycerol. Synthesis gas plays an important role as intermediate in the production of several industrial products such as Fischer-Tropsch liquids, methanol and ammonia. In this study, synthesis gas and gaseous fuels are produced via pyrolysis and steam gasification of glycerol. The pyrolysis reaction of glycerol was carried out at different temperatures (650 to 800° C) under atmospheric pressure in an inconell, tubular, fixed-bed, down-flow, micro reactor using nitrogen (30mL/min) as a carrier gas. Also, steam gasification was performed by feeding glycerol and water mixture in weight ratios (100:0, 80:20, 70:30 and 50:50) with different flow rate (3g/h to 7.5g/h) and nitrogen flow rate of 30mL/min. The gas product essentially consisted of CO, H₂, CH₄, C₂H₄, CO₂, C₂₊ and C₃₊ hydrocarbons. Composition of product gas ranged between synthesis gas 75-85 mol%, CH₄ 10-17 mol% and C₂H₄ 5-10 mol%. Therefore, the present study shows that there is a strong potential for making synthesis gas, methane and ethylene via pyrolysis and steam gasification of glycerol.