Conference article

Ethanolysis of Soybean Oil Using Mesoporous Molecular Sieves

Solange A. Quintella
Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, Brazil

Davi C. Salmin
Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, Brazil

Antonio S. Araújo
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil

Monica C.G. Albuquerque
Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, Brazil

Célio L. Cavalcante Jr.
Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, Brazil

Download articlehttp://dx.doi.org/10.3384/ecp11057397

Published in: World Renewable Energy Congress - Sweden; 8-13 May; 2011; Linköping; Sweden

Linköping Electronic Conference Proceedings 57:53, p. 397-403

Show more +

Published: 2011-11-03

ISBN: 978-91-7393-070-3

ISSN: 1650-3686 (print), 1650-3740 (online)

Abstract

This study evaluates the use of nanostructured materials as catalyst in biodiesel production from soybean oil using ethanol as transesterificant agent. Ethanol can be environmentally advantageous over methanol (more frequently used as reagent in biodiesel production) because it can be obtained from renewable sources whilst methanol is usually derived from mineral sources. The catalyst (La50SBA-15) has lanthanum oxide as active phase which was inserted by isomorphous substitution into the SBA-15 network. The LaSBA-15 mesoporous molecular sieves were synthesized using pluronic (P123) dissolved in aqueous HCl solution with tetraethyl orthosilicate and a given amount of hydrated lanthanum chloride (Si:La = 50) at 333K. The reaction was performed using the molar ratio soybean oil:ethanol of 1:20 at inert atmosphere (N2) at 343K with 1wt% of catalyst mass relative to total oil mass added to the reaction mixture. The reaction was evaluated for ethyl ester conversion after 3h and 6h. The ethyl esters content was measured using low frequency 1HNMR spectroscopy (200MHz). A conversion of soybean oil in ethyl esters (biodiesel) of 80% after reaction time of 6h was obtained. The La50SBA-15 heterogeneous catalyst showed good performance in the ethanolysis of soybean oil; comparing well with previous reports for methanolysis of soybean oil.

Keywords

Biodiesel; ethanolysis; heterogeneous catalysis; La50SBA-15

References

[1] L.C. Meher; V. Sagar; S.N. Naik; Technical aspects of biodiesel production by transesterification – a review. Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews 10; 2006; pp. 248-268. doi: 10.1016/j.rser.2004.09.002.

[2] F. Ma; M.A. Hanna; Biodiesel production: a review. Bioresource Technology 70; 1999; pp.1-15. doi: 10.1016/S0960-8524(99)00025-5.

[3] S.A. Basha; K.R. Gopal; S. Jebaraj. A review on biodiesel production; combustion; emissions and performance. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 13; 2009; pp. 1628-1634. doi: 10.1016/j.rser.2008.09.031.

[4] J.M. Encinar; J.F. González; A.R. Reinares. Ethanolysis of used frying oil. Biodiesel preparation and characterization. Fuel Processing Technology 88; 2007; pp. 513-522. doi: 10.1016/j.fuproc.2007.01.002.

[5] B. Hamad; R.O.L. Souza; G. Sapaly; M.G.C. Rocha; P.G.P. Oliveira; W.A. Gonzalez; E.A. Sales; N. Essayem. Transesterification of rapeseed oil with ethanol over heterogeneous heteropolyacids. Catalysis Communications 10; 2008; pp. 92-97. doi: 10.1016/j.catcom.2008.07.040.

[6] S. Yan; M. Kim; S.O. Salley; NG; K.Y. Simon. Oil transesterification over calcium oxides modified with lanthanum. Applied Catalysis A: General 360; 2009; pp. 163-170. doi: 10.1016/j.apcata.2009.03.015.

[7] S. Yan; M. Kim; S.O. Salley; NG; K.Y. Simon. Simultaneous transesterification and esterification of unrefined or waste oils over ZnO-La2O3 catalysts. Applied Catalysis A: General 353; 2009; pp. 203-212. doi: 10.1016/j.apcata.2008.10.053.

[8] B. Freedman; E.H. Pryde; T.L. Mounts. Variables affecting the yields of fatty esters from transesterified vegetables oils. Journal of the American Oil Chemists Society 61; 1984; pp. 1638-1643. doi: 10.1007/BF02541649.

[9] M. Di Serio; R. Tesser; M. Dimicccoli; F. Cammarotaa; M. Nastasi; E. Santacesaria; Synthesis of biodiesel via homogeneous lewis acid catalyst;Journal of Molecular Catalysis A: Chemical; 239; 2005; pp. 111-115; 2005.

[10] H. Hattori; Heterogeneous basic catalysis Chemical Reviews 95; 1995; pp. 537-558. doi: 10.1021/cr00035a005.

[11] Albuquerque; M.C.G.; I. Jiménez-Urbistondo; J. Santamría-González; J.M. Mérdia-Robles; R. Moreno-Tost; E. Rodriguez-Castellón; A. Jimenéz-Lopez; D.C.S. Azevedo; C.L. Cavalcante JR.; CaO support on mesoporous silicas as basic catalysts for transesterification reactions. Applied Catalysis A: General 334; 2008; pp. 35-43. doi: 10.1016/j.apcata.2007.09.028.

[12] M. Zabeti; W.M.A.W. Daud; M.K. Aroua; Activity of solid catalysts for biodiesel production:A review. Fuel Processing Technology 90; 2009; pp. 770-777. doi: 10.1016/j.fuproc.2009.03.010.

[13] H. Sun; Y. Ding; J. Duan; Q. Zhang; Z. Wang; H. Lou; X. Zheng; Transesterification of sunflower oil to biodiesel on ZrO2 supported La2O3 catalyst. Bioresource Technology 101; 2010; pp. 953-958. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2009.08.089.

[14] S.A. Quintella; Synthesis; characterization and catalytic properties of molecular sieve SBA-15modified with nanostructured lanthanum. PhD dissertation; Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte; Brazil; Natal; 2009.

[15] G. Knothe; Monitoring a progressing transesterification reaction by fiber-0opic near infrared spectroscopy with correlation to 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Journal of the American Oil Chemists Society 77; 2000; pp. 489-493. doi: 10.1007/s11746-000-0078-5.

[16] P.R. Costa Neto; M.S.B. Caro; L.M. Mazzuco; M.G. Nascimento; Quantification of soybean oil ethanolysis with 1H NMR. Journal of the American Oil Chemists Society 81; 2004; pp. 1111-1114. doi: 10.1007/s11746-004-1026-0.

[17] C.L.M. Silva; Obtenção de ésteres etílicos a partir da transesterificação do óleo de andiroba com etanol. Master thesis; Universidade Estadual de Campinas; Brazil; Campinas; 2005.

[18] G.M. Dhar; G.M. Kumaran; M. Kumar; K.S. Rawat; L.D. Sharma; B.D. Raju; K.S.R. Rao; Physico-chemical characterization and catalysis on SBA-15 supported molybdenum hydrotreating catalysts. Catalysis Today 99; 2005; pp.309-314. doi: 10.1016/j.cattod.2004.10.005.

[19] G.M. Kumaran; S. Garg; K. Soni; M. Kumar; L.D. Sharma; G. M. Dhar; K.S.R. Rao; Effect of Al-SBA-15 support on catalytic functionalities of hydrotreating catalysts I. Effect of variation of Si/Al ratio on catalytic functionalities. Applied Catalysis A:General 305; 2006; pp.123-129. doi: 10.1016/j.apcata.2006.02.057.

[20] D. Zhao; Q. Hou; J. Feng; B. F. Chmelka; G. D. Stucky; Nonionic triblock and star diblock copolymer and oligomeric surfactant syntheses of highly ordered; hydrothermally stable; mesoporous silica structures. Journal of the American Chemical Society 120; 1998; pp.6024-6036. doi: 10.1021/ja974025i.

[21] Y. Miyake; K. Yokomizo; N. Matsuzaki; Determination of unsaturated fatty acid composition by high-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Journal of the American Oil Chemists Society 75; 1998; pp. 1091-1094.

[22] D.C. Barbosa; T.M. Serra; S.M.P. Meneghetti; M.R. Meneghetti; Biodiesel production by ethanolysis of mixed castor and soybean oils. Fuel 89; 2010; pp. 3791-3794. doi: 10.1016/j.fuel.2010.07.016.

Citations in Crossref