Microwave-assisted catalytic dehydration of glycerol for sustainable production of acrolein over a microwave absorbing catalyst

Uniform temperature distribution within solid catalyst particles is important to achieving low coke formation in a high-temperature reaction. However, the issue of uneven temperature distribution exists in most fixed-bed catalytic reaction systems. Here, we developed a microwave-assisted system and used it in catalytic dehydration of glycerol for sustainable production of acrolein. A coated microwave absorbing catalyst WO3/ZrO2@SiC was prepared and employed in the catalytic reactions. The effects of reaction temperature, ZrO2/SiC ratio, and weight hourly space velocity (WHSV) on glycerol conversion and arcolein selectivity were examined. Experimental results showed that the microwave heating proved to be more effective than the conventional electric heating for glycerol dehydration to acrolein at lower temperature. The acrolein selectivity reached over 70% with complete glycerol conversion at 250 oC by microwave heating. The catalyst acidity was greatly influenced by ZrO2/SiC ratio, which in turn determined the acrolein selectivity. More importantly, much better catalyst stability was obtained in the microwave-heating process than the electric-heating process. In addition, the microwave-heating system was effective for the in-situ regeneration of deactivated catalyst.