Sustainable production of acrolein from biodiesel-derived crude glycerol over H3PW12O40 supported on Cs-modified SBA-15

• The feasibility of producing acrolein from crude glycerol was confirmed.
• Among the impurities only the alkali metal ions caused catalyst deactivation.
• A stable acrolein yield of 85% was obtained from desalted crude glycerol.
• HPW/Cs-SBA catalyst showed good thermal stability and regeneration ability.

The feasibility of producing acrolein from crude glycerol was studied by the dehydration reaction over H3PW12O40 (HPW) supported on Cs-modified SBA-15 (HPW/Cs-SBA). The influence of impurities in crude glycerol was investigated. Only the alkali metal ions caused catalyst deactivation and decreased the acrolein selectivity because they decreased the amount of catalytically effective medium Brønsted acid sites. This problem was solved by glycerol desalination, and a stable acrolein yield of 85% was obtained through 60 h of reaction, which was as good as that with pure glycerol. In addition, HPW/Cs-SBA showed good thermal stability and regeneration ability after the reaction with desalted crude glycerol.

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