Syngas production process from catalytic cracking of glycerol based on modified zeolite catalyst Ni/ZSM-5

Abstract

Abstract Increased biodiesel production has an effect on increasing the availability of glycerol, where glycerol is a by-product of biodiesel production. So far, the use of glyserol is less than optimal where only a small portion is used as an additive in the food industry. So it needs efforts to utilize glycerol becoming a more valuable product. Based on its characteristics, glycerol is potentially converted with catalytic cracking process produced gas that are enrich in H2, CO which is known as synthesis gas (Syngas). Syngas is the main ingredient in the petrochemical industry, besides syngas can also be used as an alternative fuel do to its heating value. The main objective of this research is to study the conversion of glycerol to syngas with the catalytic cracking process, the effect of the ratio of catalyst to glycerol and reaction temperature on product yield. This research was carried out in a semi batch reactor filled with Ni/ZSM-5 catalyst which was flowed by Nitrogen gas at 350, 400, 450 and 500°C reaction temperature variations with catalyst ratio of 0, 3, 4 and 5% (w/w). Gas products were analyzed using Gas Chromatography (GC) to determine the composition of the constituent gases which are CO, CO2, H2 and the catalyst characterization was carried out by the BET, XRD and AAS methods. The highest yield was obtained at a proocess temperature of 500 °C with catalyst ratio of 3 wt % which produced 49.45% of Syngas with the hydrogen selectivity of 20.94%.