The study of the production of glycerol ethyl acetal, through the acetalization of glycerol with acetaldehyde in a simulated moving bed reactor requires the selection of a suitable solvent/desorbent for the process. The methodology described in this paper, based on reaction, adsorption and environmental variables, lead to the identification of dimethyl sulfoxide as the solvent that best fitted the specifications of such reactive-adsorptive processes. Furthermore, a detailed study of the acetalization of glycerol in the presence of this solvent and using Amberlyst-15 as catalyst, allowed the determination of its reaction activation energy, 77.7 kJ mol(-1). The reaction rate was described by a Langmuir-Hinshelwood-Hougen-Watson model, and was obtained from batch experiments with a complete model considering diffusion inside the catalyst particles. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.