Syngas Production from Waste Glycerol through Thermal Decomposition

Abstract

The aim of this study is to clarify the appropriate reaction condition for the thermal decomposition of glycerol to a syngas in order to utilize wasted glycerol derived from biodiesel production. The effect of reaction temperature on gaseous products were examined by the experiment and the chemical equilibrium simulation. The experimental results show that a glycerol is decomposed to H₂, CO, and C1–C2 hydrocarbons under the reaction temperature beyond 800 K. In addition, the effects of water addition on decomposition temperature is also investigated. The results show that the water addition is effective to improve the gasification efficiency with relatively low reaction temperature below 1000 K. Furthermore, it is found that the composition of gaseous product obtained from an actual wasted glycerol is similar to that from a reagent glycerol.