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GLYCEROL PRODUCTION BY HYDROGENOLYSIS OF SUCROSE: OPTIMIZATION OF (NI, W, CU)/KIESELGUHR CATALYST BY RESPONSE SURFACE METHODOLOGY AND ITS CHARACTERIZATION

Tanuja Srivastava, and Dharmesh C. Saxena

Polyalcohols have wide industrial and other usages. Presently, they are being mainly produced from petroleum and its products. Sucrose hydrogenolysis is industrially important for the production of polyols. To provide high glycerol yield, a nickel catalyst promoted by tungsten and copper supported on kieselguhr was used in the optimization of process variables viz., temperature, pressure, and sucrose and catalyst concentration using Response Surface Methodology. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) is an effective tool to optimize the process and process variables. A 4 X 5 experimental design has been adopted to study the effect of process variables on glycerol yield. A linear second-order model has been developed to optimize and to study the interaction effects on glycerol yield in the catalytic hydrogenolysis of sucrose. Maximum glycerol yield of 43.85% was identified at 161°C, 48.4 atm pressure, 14.8% sucrose concentration, and 12.23% catalyst concentration. The catalyst obtained by the optimized process has been characterized by the electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and magnetic measurement techniques