阅读说明：本技术 选择性氧化甘油的方法 (Process for the selective oxidation of glycerol ) 是由 M·德菲格埃雷多波尔蒂略 V·A·阿拉乌霍德弗雷塔斯 L·C·阿尔韦斯德奥利维拉 于 2019-11-12 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明描述了包括一组步骤的甘油选择性氧化的方法。在第一步骤中,将含有甘油的原料和氧化剂进料至含有催化剂的反应容器中,所述催化剂含有氧化铁。随后,将所述含有甘油的原料、所述氧化剂和所述含有氧化铁的催化剂在100-350℃范围的温度下接触,使得发生甘油氧化反应。(The present invention describes a process for the selective oxidation of glycerol comprising a set of steps. In a first step, a glycerol-containing feedstock and an oxidant are fed to a reaction vessel containing a catalyst comprising iron oxide. Subsequently, the glycerin-containing raw material, the oxidizing agent, and the iron oxide-containing catalyst are contacted at a temperature in the range of 100 ℃ to 350 ℃ so that glycerin oxidation reaction occurs.)

1. Process for the selective oxidation of glycerol, wherein it comprises the following steps:

(a) feeding a glycerol-containing feedstock and an oxidant to a reaction vessel containing a catalyst comprising iron oxide;

(b) contacting the glycerol-containing feedstock, the oxidant, and the iron oxide-containing catalyst at a temperature in the range of 100 ℃ to 350 ℃ to form an oxidized mixture.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the major product of the oxidized mixture is formic acid.

3. The process of claim 2, wherein the amount of formic acid in the oxidized mixture is in the range of from 40 to 90 weight percent, based on the total weight of oxidation products contained in the oxidized mixture.

4. The process of any one of claims 1-3, wherein the glycerol-containing feedstock and the oxidant are mixed prior to being fed to the reaction vessel.

5. The method of any of claims 1-4, wherein the glycerol-containing feedstock and the oxidant are fed to the reaction vessel in a volume ratio of (glycerol-containing feedstock) to (oxidant) in a range of 1:1 to 1: 5.

6. The method of any one of claims 1-5, wherein the oxidizing agent is selected from hydrogen peroxide, oxygen, ozone, or a solution thereof.

7. The method of any one of claims 1-6, wherein the oxidizing agent is a solution of hydrogen peroxide at a concentration in the range of 10-50% v/v, based on the total volume of the solution.

8. The process of any one of claims 1-7, wherein the glycerol content of the glycerol-containing feedstock is in the range of 30-100 wt.%.

9. The process of any one of claims 1-8, wherein the process is conducted in a continuous manner.

10. The process of claim 9, wherein the process is carried out at a Weight Hourly Space Velocity (WHSV) in the range of from 0.5 to 10 h^-1Within the scope of the following.

11. The process of claim 9 or 10, wherein the reaction vessel is selected from the group consisting of a fixed bed reactor, a fluidized bed reactor, and a slurry bed reactor.

12. The process of any one of claims 1-11, wherein the process further comprises a product recovery step (c), wherein the oxidized mixture is subjected to a process selected from simple distillation, fractional distillation, simple condensation, fractional condensation, or a combination thereof.

13. The process of any one of claims 1-12, wherein the process comprises an initial pretreatment step of the glycerol-containing feedstock.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the pretreatment of the glycerol-containing feedstock comprises a step selected from hydrolysis, filtration, physisorption, chemisorption, distillation, decantation, neutralization, refining, or combinations thereof.

15. The process of any one of claims 1-14, wherein the iron oxide of the iron oxide containing catalyst is dispersed in a catalytic support selected from the group consisting of silica, alumina, activated carbon, diatomaceous earth, pumice, and zeolites.

16. The process of any one of claims 1-15, wherein the iron content of the iron oxide containing catalyst is in the range of 1-20 wt.%.

17. The process of any one of claims 1-16, wherein the iron oxide-containing catalyst is pre-diluted in an inert solid diluent in a catalyst to diluent volume ratio in the range of 1:1 to 1: 20.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the inert solid diluent is selected from the group consisting of silica, alumina, silicon carbide, glass beads, quartz chips, activated carbon, and pumice.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a selective glycerol oxidation process. More specifically, the present invention suggests the use of iron oxide containing catalysts in selective glycerol oxidation processes.

Background

Reduction of gaseous pollutants (e.g. CO)₂) The need for emissions and the quest for lower use of non-renewable energy matrices (due to fluctuations in international oil prices) has led to a continuous increase in the demand for liquid biofuels.

In the first generation of renewable fuels (e.g. bioethanol and biodiesel), by-products (e.g. solid waste and glycerol) were unavoidable during their synthesis. Therefore, in the context of continuously increasing production, strategies should be employed to best utilize the waste, so that the biofuel production chain becomes more profitable and has minimal waste production and therefore becomes more attractive.

In particular, in the case of biodiesel, glycerin produced together is used for, for example, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and household products. However, since the glycerol obtained from the chemical biodiesel route (known as raw glycerol) contains several impurities, such as salts, diglycerides and monoglycerides, and other organic materials, it must be treated and purified to meet market specifications.

Since these processing and purification processes have associated additional costs, they are often inaccessible to small and medium biodiesel producers because the market price of the purified by-products does not generate sufficient revenue to offset all the costs associated with the glycerol purification step.

Furthermore, despite the fact that crude glycerin has its own market value, its direct sale is economically disadvantageous due to its price drop caused by its abundant supply due to the increase in domestic biodiesel production in recent years.

In view of this background, there is a clear need to develop a process that can convert crude glycerol obtained from biodiesel to a higher value added product without the need to pre-treat or purify such feedstock.

During the conversion process, the molecular structure of glycerol causes the compound to undergo various reactions such as oxidation, hydrogenolysis, dehydration, acetylation, carboxylation, pyrolysis, gasification and deoxygenation.

The oxidation reaction is particularly relevant because the products obtained from this route are of interest to the petrochemical industry, and although this route is complex and leads to the formation of several products, there are advantages that virtually all of the resulting oxidized derivatives have practical application.

Among the possible products from oxidation, formic acid has shown particular relevance as it is a chemical commodity of substantial interest in the context of clean energy generation as a safe alternative to hydrogen storage.

The oxidation of glycerol can be mediated by low cost catalysts and oxidants such as air, oxygen and hydrogen peroxide. The most common supported catalysts used for this purpose comprise noble metals (e.g., palladium, platinum, gold, rhenium, and ruthenium) supported on silica, alumina, or activated carbon.

It should be noted, however, that these catalysts are mainly used in reactions with refined or pure glycerol, and the use of noble metals in the catalyst implies drawbacks such as high costs associated with its production, and in the case of platinum, poisoning of the catalyst at high oxygen partial pressures, which require a continuous catalytic reactivation process.

In Oliveira, H. (H.) (“Conversão de glicerina residual do biodiesel em á cido fórmico utilizando catalisadores de nióbio e vanádio” [Conversion of residual biodiesel glycerin into formic acid using niobium and vanadium catalysts]A study of the noble metal-based catalysts has been proposed in 2016.109 f, thesis (PhD in chemistry) -Institute of Exact Sciences, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo horizon, 2016)An alternative, in which niobium and vanadium oxides are impregnated in a catalytic support. The synthesized catalyst is used for the selective oxidation of glycerol. However, it can be seen that such oxides do not show very high catalytic activity, requiring impregnation of high contents of niobium and vanadium oxides in the support; in addition, there was little difference in selectivity between formic acid and the other major products (e.g., dioxane).

A more readily available alternative to noble metal-based catalysts is the iron-based catalyst. Such catalysts are used in other technical fields, as described in patent document CN104096570, where catalysts impregnated with metallic iron are synthesized and used for the production of lower carbon chain olefins by fischer-tropsch synthesis.

In the technical fields related to the present invention, research "Selective oxidation of glycerol catalyzed by iron complexes"(FARNETTI, E. and CROTTI, C.,Catalysis Communications201684, 1-4) describes the use of iron complex (III) and iron (II) in the oxidation of glycerol using homogeneous catalysis. Although this study yielded formic acid as well as dioxane, the production of dioxane dihydroxyacetone and formic acid was virtually equivalent in terms of selectivity, and thus the catalysis was not selective for any of the compounds. Furthermore, this process has several disadvantages associated with the use of homogeneous catalysis, for example, the need for an additional catalyst separation step for its reuse, which reduces the economic efficiency of the process.

Thus, it is noted that the prior art lacks an efficient selective process for the production of formic acid from glycerol, wherein said process uses a catalyst with easy operability, can be used irrespective of the purity of the glycerol and can be used for longer service times.

Therefore, there is a need to develop a method that can process raw materials containing glycerin of different purities from crude glycerin into purified glycerin, and can selectively and economically produce formic acid, so that the problems encountered in the prior art are solved.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention relates to a selective glycerol oxidation process using an iron oxide based catalyst in heterogeneous catalysis.

It is a first object according to the present invention to selectively produce glycerol oxidation products using a catalyst that is easy to operate and capable of longer service times.

A second object according to the present invention is to selectively and economically process feedstocks containing glycerol of varying purity from crude glycerol to purified glycerol, producing formic acid.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention seeks to perform a process comprising a set of steps, wherein in a first step a glycerol-containing feedstock and an oxidant are fed into a reaction vessel containing a catalyst comprising iron oxide. Subsequently, the glycerol-containing feedstock, the oxidant, and the iron oxide-containing catalyst are contacted at a temperature in the range of 100 ℃ to 350 ℃ to cause an oxidation reaction of glycerol, which produces an oxidized mixture.

The process according to the invention reduces the relative cost of purifying the glycerol oxidation product, since it uses heterogeneous catalysis and does not require further steps to remove the catalyst from the reaction medium, making the product thus produced competitive with products traditionally produced from oil.

These objects and other advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings.

Drawings

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings:

figure 1 contains images obtained by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) filtration from silica-supported and alumina-supported iron oxide-containing catalysts in FeK α mode.

Figure 2X-ray diffraction patterns for catalysts containing iron oxide supported on silica and alumina.

FIG. 3 contains the reaction mixture at200 ℃ and at 3.0 h^-1Graph of the results of the conversion (a) and distribution of the formic acid product (b) and dioxane (C) as a function of the reaction time in tests carried out at a Weight Hourly Space Velocity (WHSV).

FIG. 4 contains the reaction at200 ℃ for 3.0 h^-1In a test carried out at a Weight Hourly Space Velocity (WHSV) of oxygen for silica loadingGraph comparing formic acid conversion and yield at different concentrations of hydrogen peroxide for iron-based catalysts.

FIG. 5 contains the temperature at200 ℃ and 150 ℃ for 3.0 h^-1A graph comparing product conversion and distribution in tests conducted using silica supported iron oxide containing catalysts at a Weight Hourly Space Velocity (WHSV).

FIG. 6 contains the temperature at200 ℃ and 150 ℃ for 3.0 h^-1A graph comparing product conversion and distribution in tests conducted using alumina supported iron oxide containing catalysts at a Weight Hourly Space Velocity (WHSV).

FIG. 7 contains the temperature at 150 ℃ for 3.0 h^-1And 1.5 h^-1A graph comparing formic acid conversion and yield in tests conducted using alumina supported iron oxide containing catalysts at a Weight Hourly Space Velocity (WHSV).

Detailed Description

The present invention relates to a process for selective glycerol oxidation mediated by a catalyst comprising iron oxide.

The process of the invention first suggests feeding a glycerol-containing feedstock and an oxidant to a reaction vessel containing a catalyst comprising iron oxide. Subsequently, the glycerol-containing feedstock, oxidant and iron oxide-containing catalyst are contacted at a temperature in the range of 100-350 ℃ with the advantage that glycerol will be selectively oxidized to specific oxidation products. In a preferred embodiment, the glycerol-containing feedstock, the oxidant and the iron oxide-containing catalyst are contacted at a temperature in the range of 150 ℃ to 250 ℃.

Within the scope of the present invention, the term "selectively oxidized" and variants thereof refers to the fact that the mixture resulting from the selective glycerol oxidation process (referred to herein as the oxidized mixture) has a predominant product in its composition. It is important to note that the oxidized mixture may contain not only the products from the oxidation reaction, but also possible reactants and/or residual impurities derived from the glycerol-containing feedstock.

In particular, excluding the weight of possible reactants and/or residual impurities, this predominant product refers to the product in a greater proportion by weight in the resulting oxidized mixture, based on the sum of the weights of all the products resulting from the oxidation of the glycerol.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the main product of the oxidized mixture is formic acid. In an even more preferred embodiment, the content of formic acid in the oxidized mixture is in the range of 40 to 90% by weight, based on the sum of the weights of the oxidation products contained in the oxidized mixture. It should be noted that this concentration range is not a limiting factor of this embodiment of the invention, as it is only necessary that formic acid be the product having the highest weight concentration of all other oxidation products present in the oxidation mixture.

The term "oxidation product" refers to all compounds resulting from the oxidation reaction of the glycerol-containing feedstock present in the oxidized mixture, excluding the remaining glycerol and oxidizing agent. Possible inert impurities in the glycerol-containing feedstock (e.g. sodium chloride and other organic non-glycerol substances, MONG) or in the oxidizing agent are not considered either.

The term "reaction vessel" (to which the glycerol-containing feedstock and oxidant are fed) refers to any closed or open empty vessel in which chemical reactions are possible, which may be made of any material, such as plastics, glass, metals, metal alloys and ceramics, whether or not coated with other materials.

The glycerin-containing raw material is not limited to glycerin itself or an aqueous solution thereof; several other raw materials whose composition contains glycerol may be used, such as raw glycerol, desalted glycerol, and blonde glycerol. The glycerol content of the glycerol-containing material is in the range of 30-100% by weight. In another embodiment, the glycerol content of the glycerol-containing feedstock is in the range of 30 to 80 wt.%. If the glycerol-containing feedstock is additionally diluted, lower levels may be used regardless of the solvent used in the dilution.

The oxidant fed to the reaction vessel consists of a liquid or gas phase fluid containing a substance capable of causing oxidation of glycerol present in the glycerol-containing feedstock. The oxidizing agent to be used in the present invention is preferably selected from oxygen, hydrogen peroxide and ozone. More preferably, hydrogen peroxide is used as the oxidizing agent.

Such oxidizing agents are not limited to their use in pure form, but may be present as oxidizing solutions of the listed compounds. The term "oxygen" may refer to both the compound and its solution in its pure form, e.g., air and air-oxygen mixtures in any proportion. In a preferred embodiment, the air-oxygen mixture is formed from an air to oxygen ratio in the range of 1:1 to 10:1 by volume.

The same understanding of the term "oxygen" applies to the term "ozone" and the oxidant may be an air-ozone mixture in any proportion, preferably an air to ozone ratio in the range of 1:1 to 10:1 by volume.

The term "hydrogen peroxide" may also refer to an oxidizing solution of the compound, for example, an aqueous solution exhibiting a hydrogen peroxide concentration of 10-80% v/v (based on the total volume of the solution). In a preferred embodiment, a hydrogen peroxide solution is used at a concentration in the range of 10-50% v/v (based on the total volume of the solution).

Preferably, the oxidizing agent to be used is hydrogen peroxide or a solution thereof.

Although the oxidation process of the glycerol-containing feedstock basically comprises the steps listed above, the preceding and following steps may optionally be performed.

Optionally, the glycerol-containing feedstock and the oxidizing agent may be mixed prior to feeding to the reaction vessel. This step may be advantageous, for example, when the glycerol-containing feedstock and the oxidizing agent are present in the same physical state, thus enabling greater uniformity and better distribution between the reactants when fed to the reaction vessel, preventing operational problems associated with weight transfer.

In principle, the glycerol-containing feedstock and the oxidant can be fed to the reaction vessel in any volume ratio. Preferably, the glycerol-containing feedstock and the oxidant are fed to the reaction vessel in a volume ratio of (glycerol-containing feedstock) to (oxidant) in the range of 1:1 to 1: 5. If the step of mixing the glycerol-containing feedstock and the oxidant is performed before feeding them to the reaction vessel, the mixing is preferably also performed in a volume ratio of (glycerol-containing feedstock) to (oxidant) in the range of 1:1 to 1: 5.

In an optional embodiment of the invention, the oxidized mixture resulting from the oxidation process of the glycerol-containing feedstock is subjected to step (c) of recovering the oxidation product. Preferably, the recovery of the oxidation product occurs by a process selected from simple distillation, fractional distillation, simple condensation, fractional condensation, or a combination thereof.

The step of recovering the oxidation product by simply condensing the oxidized mixture may be carried out at any temperature below the dew point of the oxidized mixture at atmospheric pressure. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the simple condensation recovery step is carried out at a temperature between 0 and 25 ℃.

If fractional condensation is used, the temperature at which condensation occurs will depend on the substance of interest to be separated. In a preferred embodiment, the first stage of fractional condensation seeks to condense water and other compounds with higher boiling points. In a subsequent condensation step, the oxidation product of interest is recovered.

Another optional embodiment of the oxidation process of the present invention comprises a pretreatment step of the glycerol-containing feedstock. This optional step is performed prior to feeding the reaction vessel, or even prior to the step of mixing the glycerol-containing feedstock with the oxidant, if this step is performed. The pre-treatment step seeks to increase the glycerol purity of the glycerol-containing feedstock and is preferably selected from hydrolysis, filtration, physical adsorption, chemical adsorption, distillation, decantation, neutralization, refining or combinations thereof.

Naturally, the pre-treatment by physisorption is entirely optional, since the technical effect of the invention is obtained regardless of the purity of the raw material, but the decision whether to adopt this step is entirely determined by the operator, according to the required specifications of the reactants and products.

The oxidation process of the glycerol-containing feedstock of the present invention is not limited to a single conduction mode, but may be carried out in a batch, semi-batch, or continuous mode. In a preferred embodiment, the process is carried out continuously.

If the oxidation process of the glycerol-containing feedstock is carried out in a continuous manner, the weight hourly space velocity (W) is usedHSV) to determine the entry of reactants. This parameter is well known in the art and is defined as the ratio between the weight flow of reactants fed to the reaction vessel and the weight of catalyst contained in the reaction vessel. Preferably, the process is carried out at a Weight Hourly Space Velocity (WHSV) of from 0.5 to 10 h^-1In the range of 1 to 5 h, more preferably^-1Within the scope of the following.

Further, when the process is carried out in a continuous manner, the reaction vessel used in the process is preferably selected from the group consisting of a fixed bed reactor, a fluidized bed reactor and a slurry bed reactor, but it is not limited to a specific type of these reaction vessels.

In order to obtain the advantageous technical effects associated with the process of the present invention, it is of utmost importance that the catalyst used is capable of selectively oxidizing glycerol. The iron oxide containing catalyst used, its synthesis and the associated advantages will be described in more detail.

The iron oxide containing catalyst used in the process of the present invention is a supported catalyst impregnated with iron oxide. In a preferred embodiment, the iron oxide is dispersed in a catalytic support selected from the group consisting of silica, alumina, activated carbon, diatomaceous earth, pumice, and zeolites. Most preferably, the catalytic support is selected between silica and alumina.

The synthesis method of the catalyst containing the ferric oxide comprises the following steps:

(a) adding a ferric ion precursor solution to a catalytic support to form an initial mixture;

(b) stirring the initial mixture resulting from step (a) under heating until the solvent contained in the ferric ion precursor solution is completely evaporated to form a dry material;

(c) mechanically reducing the average particle size of the dried material resulting from step (b) to form a reduced dried material;

(d) calcining the reduced dried material from step (c) in an oxidizing atmosphere.

Preferably, the ferric ion precursor solution consists of an aqueous solution of one of the salts selected from ferric sulfate, ferric nitrate and ferric carbonate, which may be anhydrous or aqueous.

The amount of ferric ions to be added to the support is defined based on the desired ratio between the mass of ferric ions contained in the initial mixture and the mass of support. Thus, the concentration and volume of the ferric ion precursor solution to be added to the support is not a limiting parameter, as there are an infinite number of possible combinations of such parameters that can achieve the desired mass ratio.

Naturally, in order for the catalyst to be properly synthesized, the volume of ferric ion precursor solution added must be capable of filling at least all of the pores of the support used. It is therefore not possible to use precursor solutions that are too concentrated, a limiting factor that is common knowledge of the person skilled in the art.

In a preferred embodiment, the ferric ion solution is added to the support in a proportion in the range of 5-20% ferric ion, based on the mass of support present in the initial mixture.

The heating in the solvent evaporation step may be performed at any temperature that is capable of causing the solvent to evaporate from the ferric ion precursor solution. In a preferred embodiment, the heating is carried out in the range of 50 to 130 ℃.

The step of reducing the average particle size of the dried material consists of any mechanical impact process (for example crushing or impregnation) capable of crushing the dried material obtained from the evaporation step.

The calcination of the reduced dried material is preferably carried out at a temperature in the range of 400-600 deg.c. In a preferred embodiment, the calcination step is carried out for a period of time between 3 and 7 hours.

At the end of the above synthesis process, a catalyst is obtained containing iron oxide highly dispersed in a support, wherein the size of the iron oxide nanocrystals formed in the support is in the range of 10-60 nm. The crystalline phase of the iron oxide (if present) and the size of the nanoparticles dispersed in the support can be analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy (EF-TEM), respectively.

The dispersion of the iron oxide in the support is a key feature associated with the dual functionality of the catalyst, which preferably must dehydrate and oxidize glycerol and its intermediates to convert glycerol to formic acid.

Additional analysis of the iron oxide containing catalyst may optionally be performed to obtain parameters relevant for its characterization, for example by adsorption of N₂Specific surface area was determined and acidic sites were determined by adsorption of pyridine, by thermogravimetric analysis and by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).

Analysis of the acid sites of the catalyst resulting from the synthesis process described herein is particularly relevant in the context of a glycerol oxidation process, as selectivity to formic acid is proportional to the acidity of the catalyst (i.e., the amount of active acid sites available).

The iron content contained in the iron oxide-containing catalyst is related to the proportion of ferric ions added to the support in the initial step of the catalyst synthesis process. In a preferred embodiment, the weight content of iron in the catalyst is in the range of from 1 to 20% by weight, based on the total weight of the catalyst. More preferably, the iron content of the iron oxide containing catalyst is in the range of 3 to 15 wt.%.

Naturally, it is possible to obtain a lower iron content than the iron content added to the support during the catalyst synthesis step, considering that the impregnation of ferric ions in the catalytic support may not be 100% efficient.

After the synthesis process, in order to have heterogeneous catalysis, a catalyst containing iron oxide can be used for the oxidation process of the glycerol-containing feedstock, which is present in the reaction vessel both in concentrated (pure) form and in diluted form in an inert solid diluent.

In view of the exothermic nature of the oxidation reaction, dilution of the iron oxide containing catalyst may be considered advantageous in situations where it is more difficult to control the temperature due to insufficient heat transfer. Thus, the dilution of the catalytic bed can prevent the formation of hot spots, thus promoting greater temperature uniformity in the reaction vessel and even extending the useful life of the catalyst.

Thus, the term "concentrated form" means that the catalyst is used without a diluent and it is used in the reaction vessel without mixing it with any inert solid diluent.

The term "inert solid diluent" refers to any comminuted solid material used in the oxidation process of the present invention that does not undergo a chemical reaction or that does undergo a chemical reaction in the presence of a glycerol-containing feedstock and/or an oxidizing agent and/or a catalyst containing iron oxide.

In a preferred embodiment, the catalyst containing iron oxide is pre-diluted in an inert solid diluent in a volume ratio of catalyst to diluent in the range of 1:1 to 1: 20. The inert solid diluent is preferably selected from the group consisting of silica, alumina, silicon carbide, glass spheres, quartz chips, activated carbon and pumice.

The following description will start with preferred embodiments of the invention based on illustrative examples. It will be apparent to any person skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to these specific embodiments, as they are presented only for the purpose of facilitating an understanding of the features described herein.

Example (b):

₂example 1 Synthesis of silica Supported iron oxide containing catalyst (FeO/SiO)

Silica-supported iron oxide-containing catalysts are obtained using high specific surface area silica supports synthesized according to conventional practice in the prior art. 10 ml of 1.25 mol/L Fe (NO)₃)₃·H₂An aqueous solution of O was added to 5 g of silica support and the resulting mixture was magnetically stirred under heating at 80 ℃ until the solvent was completely evaporated. The dried material was crushed and calcined at 550 ℃ for 5 hours.

_{2 3}Example 2 Synthesis of an alumina-Supported iron oxide-containing catalyst (FeO/AlO)

Alumina-supported iron oxide-containing catalysts were obtained using a Sasol Pural alumina support. A total of 10 ml of 1.25 mol/L Fe (NO)₃)₃·H₂An aqueous solution of O was added to 5 g of alumina support and the resulting mixture was magnetically stirred under heating at 80 ℃ until the solvent was completely evaporated. The dried material was crushed and calcined at 550 ℃ for 5 hours.

Example 3 characterization by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM)

The synthesized catalysts in examples 1 and 2 were characterized by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) Tecnai G2-20, Supertwin FEI 200 kV. Images were obtained in the filtered FeK α mode and are shown in fig. 1.

By FeO/Al₂O₃Images obtained by transmission electron Microscopy (MET) of the material show that the iron oxide phase is widely dispersed in the support (fig. 1a and 1 c). The iron oxide phase was detected only when taken at 708 eV, and images were taken in EF-TEM mode (FIG. 1b and FIG. 1d), and by electron energy loss spectroscopy (Electron Energy Loss SpectroscopyEELS) (fig. 1 e). FeO/SiO₂The material showed iron oxide crystals and flakes under the silica support to be about 50 nm in diameter and about 200 nm in length, respectively (fig. 1f and fig. 1 g).

Example 4 characterization by X-ray diffraction (XRD)

Using an XRD-700 diffractometer with CuK_αX-ray diffraction (XRD) data were collected for the synthesized catalysts in example 1 and example 2. FeO/SiO₂And FeO/Al₂O₃The X-ray diffraction pattern of the sample is shown in figure 2.

FeO/SiO₂The reflection in the diffractogram of the sample is typical of the hematite phase (alpha-Fe)₂O₃-HM)。SiO₂The support did not exhibit a crystalline phase and was therefore not detectable in XRD analysis. The broad base of all hematite reflections (HM) shows that the iron oxide crystals are nanoscale. On the other hand, gamma-Al is weakly crystallized due to the carrier₂O₃Strong reflection of phases, in FeO/Al₂O₃The iron oxide phase cannot be indicated in the diffraction pattern of the material.

Example 5 structural Properties and acidity of the catalyst

The structural properties of the synthesized catalysts in examples 1 and 2 were determined by nitrogen adsorption at-196 ℃ in an Autosorb-1 Quantachrome system. The samples were degassed at 110 ℃ for 10 hours and the specific surface area was calculated using the BET method (Brunauer-Emmett-Teller). The acidic sites were quantified by pyridine adsorption followed by thermogravimetric analysis and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The results of the structural and acidity analysis are shown in the following table:

TABLE 1: results of the structure and acidity analysis of the catalysts in examples 1 and 2

As the iron oxide accumulates in the support, it can be seen that the total number of available acid sites is reduced by an order of magnitude, and the alumina-supported catalyst has twice the number of acid sites when compared to the silica-supported catalyst.

Example 6 conversion test of glycerol-containing feedstock

To simulate the reaction process used in industry, a system for continuous flow reactions was established. The reaction was carried out in a cylindrical reactor 54.0 cm long and 1.2 cm internal diameter.

Heating was carried out in a split electric furnace with three heating zones. The first heating zone was maintained at 60 ℃ as a preheating zone and the catalyst was located between the second heating zone and the third heating zone. A blank test (no catalyst) was performed and the catalysts synthesized in example 1 and example 2 were used. For comparison purposes, it was also used as a bulk hematite catalyst without being dispersed in a support (α -Fe)₂O₃-HM)。

The tests were performed with the second and third heating zones at both 150 ℃ and 200 ℃ to ensure temperature uniformity. The inner and outer thermocouples record the temperature inside and outside the reactor, respectively.

The catalytic bed is packed with silicon carbide with a granulometry of 100 mesh. The catalyst containing iron oxide was diluted in 9 mL of 60 mesh silicon carbide and placed between the second and third heating zones in the middle of the reactor to obtain greater temperature uniformity, occupying a practical volume of 10.73 mL.

Before the reaction was carried out, the crude glycerin was filtered to remove solid particles. The vessel was filled with a mixture of crude glycerol and hydrogen peroxide solution in a volume ratio of 1:2 and 1:1 and connected to the reaction vessel with a hose. The test was performed at two different concentrations of hydrogen peroxide (35% v/v and 50% v/v).

The mixture was pumped up-flow using an AT2000 model (Shimadzu) HPLC pump to obtain 3 h^-1Weight Hourly Space Velocity (WHSV). Twice the weight of the catalyst containing iron oxide was also used, and the flow rate of the glycerol-hydrogen peroxide mixture was maintained to obtain 1.5 h^-1Was tested for Weight Hourly Space Velocity (WHSV). The resulting oxidized mixture was passed through a condenser at 15 ℃ wherein the oxidation product was collected in a closed vessel.

Example 7 analysis of the product

The oxidized mixture was analyzed by gas chromatography coupled to a mass spectrometer (CG-MS). CG-MS analysis was carried out using an Agilent instrument using a 30 m.times.250. mu.m.times.0.25 μm HP-5MS column (5% polymethylphenylsiloxane). The heating is gradually changed into: the initial temperature was 40 ℃ for 5 minutes, followed by heating to 140 ℃ at a rate of 5 ℃/minute and holding at that temperature for 1 minute. The temperature was then raised to 290 ℃ at20 ℃/min and held for another 1 min. The separated products are ionized by electron impact and analyzed in an ion trap analyzer.

Using the analytical curve for glycerol in CG-MS, the conversion was estimated by the following equation:

wherein:

AC_p= chromatographic area of standard; and

AC_a= chromatographic area of sample.

The relative distribution of the products was estimated according to the following equation:

wherein:

AC_i= chromatographic area of product of interest; and

AC_t= sum of chromatographic areas of all oxidation products.

The selectivity is calculated relative to the number of moles of carbon entering and leaving the system according to the following formula:

the main products formed in the tests carried out were a mixture of formic acid and 1, 3-dioxolane-4-methanol and 1, 3-dioxane-5-methanol (hereinafter referred to as "dioxane").

As can be seen in fig. 3, the alumina supported iron oxide containing catalyst resulted in low conversion (20-30%), while bulk hematite (not dispersed in the support) resulted in 40% initial conversion, which dropped to 25% after 1440 minutes (fig. 3 a). The system was able to convert 15% of the crude glycerol by temperature alone, in the absence of catalyst (blank test). This result shows the importance of dispersing the active phase in the carrier in order to improve the catalytic activity. Formic acid is also obtained in the absence of a catalyst, however the yield is low when compared to the reaction in the presence of a catalyst.

As shown in FIG. 4, FeO/SiO was used when the concentration of the oxidizer solution was reduced from 50% v/v to 35% v/v and the operating temperature was maintained at200 deg.C₂In the case of the catalyst, the distribution of the products in the liquid phase is substantially the same. Dilution of the oxidant results in a reduction in conversion and yield to formic acid. However, the generation of bubbles in the reaction line is reduced. Technical problems were observed in the presence of bubbles, which resulted in the flow being interrupted by the HPLC pump used to pump the reaction load to the reactor bed. When the flow is interrupted, a volume corresponding to the volume of the catalytic bed must be discarded in order to exchange the entire internal load. It is also noted that due to H₂O₂The decomposition of (a) is exothermic and it is easier to control the temperature of the whole system. Thus, reducing the concentration of the oxidizing agent results in an increase in the safety and operability of the process.

It should be noted that a 1:1 volume ratio (crude glycerol) was usedHydrogen peroxide solution and 35% H₂O₂The solution provides sufficient water to prevent crystallization of sodium chloride (from the crude glycerol) in the reactor.

A comparison in figure 5 shows that at both 200 ℃ and 150 ℃, the main product is formic acid followed by dioxane. As the rate of formic acid increases, the rate of dioxane decreases. The "other" products essentially comprise Hydroxyacetone (HPN), acetic acid, 1, 3-butadiene and some molecules not recognized in GC-MS.

A comparison of the graphs in FIG. 6 shows that₂Catalyst ratio, FeO/Al₂O₃The catalyst results in lower conversion. However, the alumina-supported catalyst is more stable throughout the time it is in the catalytic bed. In the alumina-supported catalyst, formic acid was obtained in higher yields at both 200 ℃ and 150 ℃ when compared to the silica-supported catalyst. Under the mildest experimental conditions (150 ℃ and 1:1 Glycerol: H)₂O₂Molar ratio), FeO/Al is used₂O₃The system of (a) results in a higher formic acid yield. The "other" products obtained increased and dioxane and formic acid decreased at the end of 2520 minutes. FeO/Al was also observed₂O₃The catalyst lost catalytic activity at 150 ℃ which was not observed at200 ℃.

Finally, from the results shown in fig. 7, it can be concluded that a two-fold increase in catalyst loading or a decrease in WHSV leads to a two-fold increase in crude glycerol conversion, also leading to the same proportion of formic acid yield.

The description provided so far as the object of the present invention should be considered only as possible one or more embodiments, and any specific features introduced herein should be understood only as what has been written to facilitate understanding. Accordingly, the description is not to be taken in any way as limiting the invention, which is defined by the scope of the appended claims.