Synthesis of bio-additives: Acetylation of glycerol over zirconia-based solid acid catalysts

Acetylation of glycerol with acetic acid was investigated over ZrO2, TiO2–ZrO2, WOx/TiO2–ZrO2 and MoOx/TiO2–ZrO2 solid acid catalysts to synthesize monoacetin, diacetin and triacetin having interesting applications as bio-additives for petroleum fuels. The prepared catalysts were characterized by means of XRD, BET surface area, ammonia-TPD and FT-Raman techniques. The effect of various parameters such as reaction temperature, molar ratio of acetic acid to glycerol, catalyst wt.% and time-on-stream were studied to optimize the reaction conditions. Among various catalysts investigated, the MoOx/TiO2–ZrO2 combination exhibited highest conversion (~ 100%) with best product selectivity, and a high time-on-stream stability.

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► Acetylation of glycerol is an excellent reaction for the production of acetins.
► A novel method for the efficient utilization of bioglycerol to useful chemicals.
► The ammonia TPD results suggest that promoters create more acidic sites in TZ.
► WOx or MoOx promoted TiO2–ZrO2 mixed oxides are true green catalysts.