Solketal Production Plant- BC

Production of solketal in British Colombia

Bio-fuels, such as biodiesel, have emerged as an environmentally friendly and sustainable substitute to petroleum based diesel. the use of biodiesel has been gaining more and more space in the world market. In addition to being a renewable fuel, it plays an excellent role for the environment, reducing emissions of harmful gases to the planet, compared to fossil fuels.

Biodiesel is most commonly produced via triglyceride transesterification, which produces fatty acid alkyl esters as the main product and crude glycerol as a by-product or co-product in significant quantities up to 10 wt% in biodiesel .

With the success of the global biodiesel industry, the production of glycerol also had a high growth rate which resulted in reduced prices for crude and refined glycerol in global markets. Transformation of glycerol into higher added value products, such as solketal, is called glycerochemistry . The conversion of glycerol into other products can be accomplished by

ketalization reactions, acetalization, carbonation, dehydration, esterification, etherification, hydrogenolysis, oxidation, and other methods.

Solketal

Solketal is an excellent additive for the formulation of gasoline, diesel, and biodiesel. The mixture of this compound in biofuels improves its properties, decreases viscosity, and helps to achieve the preestablished requirements for the flash point and oxidation stability of biodiesel. In addition, glycerol ketals are used as solvents, plasticizers, surfactants, disinfectants, and flavoring agents, among others. They can be used both in the pharmaceutical industry and in the food industry.

The commercial solketal is known as Augeo™ SL 191 and is produced by Rhodia (a member of the Solvay Group) and stands out as a slow evaporation solvent derived from glycerol which is considered a renewable source. Low toxicity to human health and the environment. It is a good solvent for resins and polymers, replacing solvents derived from petroleum and can be used as a (bio) fuel additive.

Dorphatec is pursuing a project in British Columbia for production of 5000 Mt/year of Solketal , by consuming refined glycerol produced by biofuel industries in the province or other provinces. The final product can be consumed by fuel industry as additive or other chemical industries.

The project is planned in 2 phases :

1st phase : A pilot plant which is designed to optimize the production process by selecting best catalyzer and determining the optimum condition for maximum conversion of glycerol to solketal by acetalization in a continuous reactor.

2n phase: Scaling up the optimized process to target capacity of 5000 Mt annually

We have collaboration of a creditable Italian Chemical engineering consultant which are expert in designing both phases.