Gas-phase dehydration of glycerol over thermally-stable SAPO-40 catalyst

Abstract

SAPO-40 was used as a catalyst for the gas-phase dehydration of glycerol towards acrolein. At 350 °C the catalyst attained full conversion of glycerol with a negligible deactivation in the first 48 h, a glycerol conversion above 50% after 120 h on stream and a nearly constant selectivity to acrolein above 70%. This catalyst proved to be highly resistant under the experimental conditions used and can be regenerated without loss of activity or significant structural damage. The comparison of SAPO-40 with SAPO-34 and SAPO-11 illustrates the importance of the porous structure and emphasizes the good catalytic performance of this material.