Water Removal Process in Electrochemical Valorization of Glycerol

Glycerol, as a by-product of biodiesel industries, can be converted to a broad range of high value-added products chemically in the presence of hetero/homogeneous catalysts and also electrochemically in electrolyzers. Using an alkaline medium for glycerol conversion increases the yield of the reaction. In several glycerol valorization reactions, water is used as a solvent or is produced as a by-product. Excess water reduces the reaction conversion and hinders the efficiency by decomposition of final products such as glycerol carbonate in the alkaline solution, and hence must be maintained in a low concentration. The removal of water from aqueous salt solutions containing soluble organic species is a very challenging extraction. This research seeks to design a simple and energy-efficient water removal process by focusing on two organic solvent dehydration methods, desiccants and membrane pervaporation to increase the efficiency as well as purifying the produced glycerol derivatives as commercial products.M.A.S