Simulation of propionaldehyde production from glycerol

Abstract: The rising prices of fossil fuel, combined with increasing glycerol availability, thanks to increasing biodiesel production, have made glycerol more economically interesting to use as a starting material in various processes. This article will present and evaluate a new process developed by Biofuel-solutions for production of propionaldehyde from glycerol via acrolein. Aspen Plus® is used to simulate the process mass and thermal balances under steady state conditions. This simulation is used to perform a parametric study where a number of modifications are made to some of the process parame-ters and the change in utility use is studied for each modification. The results are used to calculate the gross production price and the annuity. It has been made clear throughout the different evaluation methods that the variation in glycerol concentration is the parameter with the largest positive impact on the process profitability. The worst results are obtained with decreased acrolein yield. None of the remaining process modifications leads to any prominent changes in neither utility use or economical deficit or surplus.