Recent Developments in the Field of Catalytic Dehydration of Glycerol to Acrolein

Abstract

Catalytic dehydration is one of the possible reactions to valorize the large amounts of glycerol yielding from the transesterification process. Thus, since the biodiesel boom in 2004–2005, many publications proposing various catalytic systems can be found. In this review, the current state of the art based on the most recent publications is presented and discussed in detail with respect to the observed catalytic performance as well as long-term stability. Next to the applied development of new catalysts, a main focus is the influence of the most critical parameter: the acidity of the catalyst and its correlation to the catalytic performance (selectivity and conversion). In addition, recent results on the thermodynamic calculation are presented, thus giving an insight into the most probably involved intermediates.