Synthesis Of Epichlorophydrin From Glycerol

A large mount of glycerol is produced as byproduct with the rapid development of biodiesel production. The traditional epichlorohydrin preparation process has more serious impact on the environment. The use of glycerol for producing epichlorohydrin is becoming one of the future direction of research. In this thesis, the technique of producing epichlorohydrin by the glycerol chlorination and dichloropropanol saponification reaction were studied.The effect of different kinds of catalysts on dichloropropanol synthesis rate from glycerol was studied in laboratory flask. Hexanedionic acid was finally chosen as the most optimal catalyst. And the optimal technological conditions show that the catalyst and glycerol mole ratio of 4.5%, the reaction temperature 105℃. In these conditions, the yield of dichloropropanol was up to 87.80%. Since the synthesis of dichloropropanol followed SN2 mechanism, kinetic equation was established by investgating the process of the glycerol chlorination to produce dichloropropanol. Half continuous reaction was carried out in packed tower to verify the possibility of continuous reaction. High yield of dichloropropanol was observed by the reaction.Epichlorohydin was produced by the saponification of dichloropropanol and calcium hydroxide. The optimal technological conditions show that reactant molar ratio is n(1/2Ca(OH)2):n(dichloropropanol)=1.2:1, reaction time is 60s, reaction temperature is 70℃. Under these conditions, the epichlorohydin yield can be achieved in 89.5%. Besides, the effect of CaCl2 on the epichlorohydin concentration was also investigated. The saponification of reactive distillation research under the vacuum in the packed column proves that the method has the possibility of industrialization.