PAMANTASAN NG LUNGSOD NG MAYNILA

University of the City of Manila

College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering

Catalytic Dehydrochlorination of Trihydroxypropane

derived from Crude Glycerol for the
Production of Epichlorohydrin

Submitted by:
DIONISIO, Charles Amiel P.
MENDOZA, Marian D.
RAYMUNDO, Karl Joshua O.
SALIGUE, Mikho Yves M.
YUMUL, Maria Lara Angela B.

BS ChE V

____________________________
Engr. Milagros R. Cabangon

____________________________ ____________________________
Dr. Denvert C. Pangayao Engr. April Anne Tigue

09 November, 2018

Catalytic Conversion of Trihydroxypropane derived from Crude

Glycerol for the Production of Epichlorohydrin Title Proposal 1
Dionisio, Mendoza, Raymundo, Saligue, Yumul
 PAMANTASAN NG LUNGSOD NG MAYNILA
University of the City of Manila
College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering

ABSTRACT
Crude glycerol, comprising roughly around 80% glycerol, is a by-product of the
biodiesel industry which is considered to be a promising alternative renewable
chemical feedstock. According to the Global Agricultural Information Network, the
Philippines produced 350 million liters of biodiesel in 2016, of which the crude glycerol
by-product amounted 30.38 million liters. In connection to this, the Biofuels Act or
Republic Act (RA) 9367 mandated a minimum one percent biodiesel blend in all diesel
fuels on 2007, which was raised to 2% by 2009, then 5% by 2015, projected to 10%
increased by 2020, and to 20% by 2030. This justifies that crude glycerol generation
will also increase. The availability of large amounts of by-product glycerol from
biodiesel production has encouraged the development of technologies that can use
glycerol as a raw material for producing value-added chemical products such as the
organochlorine compound, epichlorohydrin.
Epichlorohydrin (ECH) is a commodity chemical used largely in the production
of epoxy resins, epichlorohydrin elastomers, specialty water treatment chemicals, wet-
strength resins for paper production, and surfactants, of which the worldwide demand
is estimated to be approximately 1.9-2.0 million tons per year (UN Comtrade Database,
2017). However, the conventional method of ECH production involves the use of non-
renewable and crude oil-derived propylene as feedstock, which prompted the
proponents to find alternative renewable sources of raw material such as crude
glycerol. Moreover, the availability of bio-based glycerol and the increase in cost of
propylene supports the large-scale production of ECH from glycerol.
The projected increase in generation and the conversion potential of crude
glycerol has led the researchers to develop the study “Catalytic Dehydrochlorination of
Trihydroxypropane derived from Crude Glycerol for the Production of Epichlorohydrin”.

Catalytic Conversion of Trihydroxypropane derived from Crude

Glycerol for the Production of Epichlorohydrin Title Proposal 2
Dionisio, Mendoza, Raymundo, Saligue, Yumul
 PAMANTASAN NG LUNGSOD NG MAYNILA
University of the City of Manila
College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering

PROCESS FLOWCHART

Catalytic Conversion of Trihydroxypropane derived from Crude

Glycerol for the Production of Epichlorohydrin Title Proposal 3
Dionisio, Mendoza, Raymundo, Saligue, Yumul
 PAMANTASAN NG LUNGSOD NG MAYNILA
University of the City of Manila
College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering

PRODUCT

Epichlorohydrin

Epichlorohydrin, a traditional fossil based bulk

chemical commodity for industrial purposes, is an
epoxide made from synthesizing allyl alcohol, allyl
chloride, dichlorohydrin or propylene (Giri, 1997).
Epichlorohydrin is largely used in production processes
including epoxy resins and manufacturing polymers,
giving it a worldwide scale of around 2 million tons per
year (Lari, Pastore, Mondelli, & Pérez-Ramírez, 2018). Figure 2.7 - Epichlorohydrin
One of the applications is to strengthen paper as a strength additive. Using
epichlorohydrin enables a paper producer to use less pulp and more fillers while
maintaining strength and stiffness (Bower, 2000). Epichlorohydrin usage also can be
found in adhesives, elastomers, plastics and rubbers as well. (Pembere AM, Yang M,
& Luo Z, 2017).

Catalytic Conversion of Trihydroxypropane derived from Crude

Glycerol for the Production of Epichlorohydrin Title Proposal 4
Dionisio, Mendoza, Raymundo, Saligue, Yumul
 PAMANTASAN NG LUNGSOD NG MAYNILA
University of the City of Manila
College of Engineering and Technology
Department of Chemical Engineering

REFERENCES
Almena, A., & Martin, M. (2016). Technoeconomic analysis of the production of
epichlorohydrin from glycerol. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 55, 3226-
3238.

Bell, B. M., Briggs, J. R., Campbell, R. M., Chambers, S. M., Gaarenstroom, P. D.,
Hippler, J. G., et al. (2008). Glycerin as a renewable feedstock for epichlorohydrin
production. the GTE process. CLEAN – Soil, Air, Water, 36(8), 657-661.

Bower, B. K. (2000). Polyamidoamine/epichlorohydrin resins bearing polyol

sidechains as dry strength agents. Washington, DC: U.S.: U.S. Patent No. 6,165,322.

Giri, A. K. (1997). Genetic toxicology of epichlorohydrin: A review

doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/S1383-5742(96)00042-7

Ilham, Z. & Saka, S. (2016). Esterification of glycerol from biodiesel production to

glycerol carbonate in non‑catalytic supercritical dimethyl carbonate. DOI:
10.1186/s40064-016-2643-1

Kosmider, A., Leja, K., & Czaczyk, K., (2012). Improved Utilization of Crude Glycerol
By-Product from Biodiesel Production. Poznań University of Life Sciences, Poland.

Lari, G. M., Pastore, G., Haus, M., Ding, Y., Papadokonstantakis, S., Mondelli, C., et al.
(2018). Environmental and economical perspectives of a glycerol biorefinery. Energy
& Environmental Science,

Tan, H. W., Abdul Aziz, A. R., & Aroua, M. K. (2013). Glycerol production and its
applications as a raw material: A review
doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2013.06.035

Wang, M., Zhou, J., Mao, G., & Zheng, X. (2012). Synthesis of TS-1 from an inorganic
reactant system andits catalytic properties for allyl chloride epoxidation. Industrial &
Engineering Chemistry Research,51(39), 12730-12738.

Wang, S., Wong, D. S., Jang, S., & Huang, S. (2017). Novel plant-wide process design
for producingdichlorohydrin by glycerol hydrochlorination
doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtice.2016.05.055

Catalytic Conversion of Trihydroxypropane derived from Crude

Glycerol for the Production of Epichlorohydrin Title Proposal 5
Dionisio, Mendoza, Raymundo, Saligue, Yumul