Applied Catalysis Research for Renewable Diesel Production and Glycerol Utilization

全球约四分之三的一次能源消费与石油、煤炭和天然气等化石能源有关。但是，原油储量的减少、生产成本的增加和全世界对燃料的需求增加了与使用矿物燃料有关的气候问题，并促使各国政府将重点转向改进使用诸如生物质的可再生能源。生物质是指碳中性的可再生能源，可用于生产可再生柴油和有价值的“绿色”化学品。加拿大目前的生物柴油年产量超过7亿升（ML），甘油年产量超过70毫升（ML），并且有资源生产13亿升/年的生物柴油。虽然可以利用化学方法从廉价和丰富的非粮食生物质中提取生物燃料，但重大的生产和技术挑战仍然存在。提高植物油转化为生物柴油的经济性和可行性的关键是提高催化剂的性能。第一个提议的研究项目将研究用微藻、煎锅油脂和从菜籽油、芥菜油和大豆油中提取的低质量植物油催化高效生产生物柴油。新型介孔分子筛包括MAS-7和MAS-9负载的钨磷酸。这些固体酸可以处理低品质油中的甘油三酯和游离脂肪酸。固体酸的使用消除了水的使用，降低了生物柴油生产的运营成本。通过使用甘油生产生物化学品，如甘油醚和碳酸酯，可以进一步降低成本。甘油醚是由甘油与醇的醚化反应催化生成的。采用固体催化剂羰基化反应制备碳酸甘油。第二个拟议的研究项目将开发费托合成（FTS）技术，支持Fe和Co催化剂，将合成气转化为运输燃料。通过FTS生产的柴油质量优越，不含硫、氮和芳香族污染物。Pt负载氧化物和混合氧化物将用于ft蜡的加氢裂化和喷气燃料馏分的异构化。以碱为促进剂，负载于碳材料、介孔Al2O3和ZrO2及混合氧化物上，制备多功能纳米Mo颗粒，用于合成高级醇。该研究将尝试创造和表征新型催化剂，将其性质与反应性联系起来，并测试其对原料气变化和采出水的敏感性。对催化剂的寿命、反应机理和动力学进行了评价。将进行生命周期分析和过程经济学研究，以确定最适合可再生柴油生产和甘油利用的催化剂和工艺条件。

About three quarters of the world’s primary energy consumption is linked to fossil-based energy resources such as petroleum, coal, and natural gas. Decreasing crude-oil reserves, increased production costs and worldwide demand for fuel have, however, increased climate concerns associated with the use of fossil fuels and encouraged Governments to shift the focus towards the improved use of renewable energy resources such as biomass. Biomass refers to carbon-neutral renewable energy resources that can be used to produce renewable diesel and valuable ‘green’ chemicals. Canada currently produces over 700 million liters (ML)/year of biodiesel and over 70 ML of glycerol, and has the resources to produce >1.3 billion liters/year of biodiesel. While chemical processes are available to derive biofuels from inexpensive and abundant nonfood biomass, significant production and technological challenges remain. The key to improving the vegetable oil conversion to biodiesel and making it more economical and viable is better catalyst performance. The first proposed research project will investigate efficient biodiesel production catalytically from microalgae, fryer grease, and low quality vegetable oils derived from canola, mustard oil, and soya oil. Novel mesoporous zeolites including MAS-7 and MAS-9 supported tungstophosporic acid will be developed for this process. These solid acids can handle both triglycerides and free fatty acids present in low quality oils. The usage of solid acids eliminates water use and reduce the operating costs of biodiesel production. Cost can be further reduced by using glycerol to produce biochemicals such as glycerol ethers and carbonates. Glycerol ethers will be produced catalytically from the etherification of glycerol with an alcohol. Glycerol carbonate will be produced through carbonylation reaction using solid catalysts. The second proposed research project will develop Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis (FTS) technology with supported Fe and Co catalysts for converting syngas to transportation fuel. The diesel produced via FTS is of superior quality with no sulfur, nitrogen or aromatic pollutants. Pt supported and mixed oxides will be developed for hydrocracking of the FTS wax followed by isomerization for jet fuel fraction. Multifunctional nano Mo particles promoted with alkali and supported on carbon materials and mesoporous Al2O3 and ZrO2 and mixed oxides will be created for higher alcohol synthesis. The research will attempt to create and characterize novel catalysts, correlate their properties with their reactivity, and test their sensitivities to feed gas variabilities and produced water. The catalyst life, reaction mechanism and kinetics will be evaluated. Life cycle analyses and the process economics studies will be conducted to identify the catalysts and process conditions most suitable for renewable diesel production and glycerol utilization.