Optimum Conditions for the Formation of Glycidyl Nitrate from 1,3-Dinitroglycerin

Abstract

One of the utilization of glycerol as byproduct of the biodiesel industry is to produce polyglycidyl nitrate, the most energetic polymer. The synthesize of polyglycidil nitrate from glycerol includes three steps: nitration, cyclization and polymerization. The aim of this study is to obtain the optimum conditions of cyclization. The cyclization was carried out in a 5 ml reactor and equipped with Hickman distillation head and nitrogen purge with the variables are mole ratio of sodium hydroxide/glycerol of 1/1 to 1.5/1, reaction temperature of 283.15 to 293.15 K and sodium hydroxide concentration of 15%. Each sample was analyzed by gas chromatography to determine the composition of products. The optimum conditions are temperature of 288.15 K and the mole ratio of sodium hydroxide /glycerol of 1.5.