New Glycerol Upgrading Processes
A special issue of Catalysts (ISSN 2073-4344).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2020) | Viewed by 43824
Special Issue Editor
Interests: glycerol; biodiesel; valorization; catalysts; carbonates; ketals; monomers; ethers; esters; lactic acid; hydrogen; acrolein; acrilonitrile; acrylic acid; glycidol; diols; refining; oxidation; dehydration
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Among renewable energies, biofuels—particularly biodiesel and bioethanol—have seen their market share significantly increase throughout the past several decades, being the main products of the first biorefineries. These are now implemented in new processes and products to complement and/or substitute fossil fuels and materials derived from oil, gas, and coal, on one hand, and a plethora of chemicals produced in the petrochemical industry, on the other.
In the case of biodiesel, approximately 10% of glycerol is generated with respect to the mass of this biofuel as a by-product of the manufacture process, using both homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis for the transesterification process. Glycerol has traditionally been produced from tallow and oil by acid hydrolysis, and it can also be produced by several microorganisms, the latter method being a promising biorefinery approach in the event that glycerol production needs to be enhanced. However, presently, most of the glycerol production comes from the biodiesel production process as a side stream, which has led to a saturation of the existing traditional glycerol market in the chemical, food, and pharmaceutical sectors. As a consequence, prices have remarkably dropped, thereby affecting the profitability of biodiesel production processes. Therefore, glycerol—either crude or pure—could be a waste to be disposed of or, on the other hand, it could become an opportunity by turning it into a platform chemical. A great number of compounds can be derived from glycerol by thermochemical, catalytic, and biochemical routes, including microbial bioprocesses, in which it is employed as a carbon source. For this purpose, there is an enormous amount of scientific and technical literature from the 1990s and the first decade of the 2000s describing new catalysts, biocatalysts, processes, and products that show the huge potential of glycerol as a building block and feedstock.
The aim of this Special Issue is to provide a general and up-to-date overview of the wide variety of processes and products that are now being devised, researched, and implemented using glycerol as a starting building block and carbon source for chemical synthesis, thermochemical transformations, and biochemical/microbial processes. In this sense, a part of the future biorefineries is being built on glycerol as the corner stone.
Dr. Miguel Ladero Galán
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Catalysts is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- glycerol
- catalysis
- biocatalysis
- microbial transformations
- reforming
- biorefinery
- platform chemical
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.