Thermal Stability for the Continuous Production of γ-Valerolactone from the Hydrogenation of N-Butyl Levulinate in a CSTR

Wenel Naudy Vásquez Salcedo , Bruno Renou , Sébastien Leveneur (1, 2, 3)

1 UNIROUEN - Université de Rouen Normandie
2 LSPC - Laboratoire de Sécurité des Procédés Chimiques
3 LSPC - Laboratoire de Sécurité des Procédés Chimiques

γ-valerolactone can be a game-changer in the chemical industry because it could substitute fossil feedstocks in different fields. Its production is from the hydrogenation of levulinic acid or alkyl levulinates and can present some risk of thermal runaway. To the best of our knowledge, no studies evaluate the thermal stability of this production in a continuous reactor. We simulated the thermal behavior of the hydrogenation of butyl levulinate over Ru/C in a continuous stirred-tank reactor and performed a sensitivity analysis. The kinetic and thermodynamic constants from Wang et al.’s articles were used. We found that the risk of thermal stability is low for this chemical system.

Domaines: Génie chimique

Wenel Naudy Vásquez Salcedo, Bruno Renou, Sébastien Leveneur. Thermal Stability for the Continuous Production of γ-Valerolactone from the Hydrogenation of N-Butyl Levulinate in a CSTR. Processes, 2023, 11 (1), pp.237. ⟨10.3390/pr11010237⟩. ⟨hal-03936882⟩