Solketal Production from Glycerol Ketalization with Acetone: Catalyst Selection and Thermodynamic and Kinetic Reaction Study

In this work, the main results of a thermodynamic and kinetic study of glycerol ketalization to produce solketal in the presence of a solvent are presented. A catalyst and a solvent screening was carried out leading to the selection of Amberlyst-35 ion-exchange resin and ethanol as the most suitable materials for this reaction. A parametric study allowed one to determine reaction equilibrium and kinetic parameters in a batch reactor in the absence of external mass-transfer limitations. Regarding reaction thermodynamic equilibrium, a standard enthalpy of −20.1 ± 1.1 kJ mol–1 and a Gibbs free energy of 1.4 ± 0.3 kJ mol–1 were obtained. Reaction kinetics was studied assuming different reaction rate laws to fit the experimental data obtained: Pseudo-Homogeneous (PH), Langmuir–Hinshelwood–Hougen–Watson (LHHW), and Eley–Rideal (ER). The experimental results revealed that the reaction kinetics behavior could be accurately described by the LHHW reaction rate law, considering the presence of internal mass-transfer resistances. The activation energy for the overall reaction was found to be 69.0 ± 6.6 kJ mol–1.