Integration of reaction and separation in pervaporation for enzymatic glycerol carbonate production.
(2025) M3-S Applied polymers, nanomaterials, membranes, and composites — Location: Torun, Poland (27.May.2025)
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- Abstract
- In recent years, green chemistry has been a niche study area in the development of industrial-scale biochemical synthesis and process intensification[1]. Glycerol carbonate is a non-toxic organic compound that serves as an intermediary in the manufacturing of batteries, surfactants, detergents, and medicinal products[2]. The process of producing glycerol carbonate, which includes transesterification of glycerol and dimethyl carbonate (DMC), has been chosen as a feasible conversion pathway since it principally produces methanol as a coproduct, which can be selectively separated from the mixture using pervaporation[2]. However, glycerol carbonate synthesis is not as environmentally safe as we think. There are two processes: the high-temperature reaction (70 – 80o C) is followed by a purification step, which compromises the process's greener character in terms of energy consumption, as an azeotrope methanol/DMC (approximately 30 wt% methanol azeotrope) is produced, resulting in an extremely energy intensive separation[3]. The separation portion, which involves pervaporation, has already been investigated with the construction of selective membranes using ZIF-8 fillers in chitosan polymer[3]. The ZIF-8/Chitosan membrane showed selectivity to methanol with a high separation factor and flux for separation of methanol from DMC. But the ZIF-8 is a zinc-centric MOF that forms a weak link with the carboxylic ligands often causing the crystals to disorient making the MOFs unstable[4]. Therefore, a different set of MOFs, which is zirconium-centric will be analyzed for methanol/DMC separation. The drop in temperature in the process can be addressed by adding enzymes that work at low temperatures (30 – 40o C)[5]. The goal is to integrate enzymes with methanol-selective membranes in a reactive pervaporation unit. This development will enable more efficient and regulated reactions, boosting the total production of glycerol carbonate and decreasing energy consumption.
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Iyer, A., & Luis Alconero, P. (2025). Integration of reaction and separation in pervaporation for enzymatic glycerol carbonate production. M3-S Applied polymers, nanomaterials, membranes, and composites, Torun, Poland. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/249171