Development of solid base catalyst X/Y/MgO/-AlO for optimization of preparation of biodiesel from L.seed oil

Abstract

The preparation and regeneration conditions of the identified catalyst X/Y/MgO/?-Al₂O₃ with high catalytic activity were studied and optimized. The biodiesel was prepared by transesterification of Jatropha curcas seed oil produced in Guizhou with methanol at its reflux temoerature in the presence of X/Y/MgO/?-Al₂O_{3 .} The pilot plant tests were carried out in a 100 L reaction vessel. Both average yield and fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) content reached more than 96.50% under the optimum reaction conditions of the pilot plant tests designed with an oil/methanol molar ratio of 1 : 10, catalyst concentration of 1.00%, and reaction time of 3 h at reflux temperature. In addition, analysis shows that the quality of biodiesel meets the standard EN 14214.

Keywords

Solid base catalyst / Jatropha curcas oil, Transesterification reaction, Pilot plant test