The Production of 1, 3-Propanediol by Aqueous Phase Reforming of Glycerol over Nickel Based Catalyst

1,3-Propanediol is a colourless liquid at room conditions and has a huge
demand in the textile industry due to its stability, strength, and specialized monomer.
As it is conventionally produced by hydrocarbon routes, the production of 1,3-
propanediol has been less sustainable due to the fact that hydrocarbon is a nonrenewable resource. Aqueous phase reforming of glycerol has proven to produce 1,3-
Propanediol at significant yields by only utilizing common earth metals such as
calcium and aluminium oxides. This opens up a new opportunity to explore this
process by optimizing catalyst compositions. Thus the objective of this study is to
characterize the catalyst used and analyse its performance curve towards the aqueous
phase reforming reaction of glycerol. In this research, six Ca-Ni/Al2O3 catalyst of
different composition are synthesized through wetness impregnation method and
characterized in Field Emission Scanning electron microscope (FESEM) with EDX
elemental analysis; which is done to ensure the right species present and to confirm
the composition of each catalyst sample.