Transesterification of soybean oil to biodiesel over kalsilite catalyst

Guang WEN, Zifeng YAN

PDF(315 KB)
PDF(315 KB)
Front. Chem. Sci. Eng. ›› 2011, Vol. 5 ›› Issue (3) : 325-329. DOI: 10.1007/s11705-010-0574-x
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Transesterification of soybean oil to biodiesel over kalsilite catalyst

Author information +
History +

Abstract

The transesterification reaction of soybean oil with methanol over kalsilite-based heterogeneous catalysts was investigated. The kalsilite was synthesized from potassium silicate, potassium hydroxide, and aluminum nitrate aqueous solutions by controlling the pH value at 13. After calcination in air at 1200°C, a very porous kalsilite (KAlSiO4) was obtained with surface pores ranging from 0.2 to 1.0 µm. However, this kalsilite had relatively low catalytic activity for the transesterification reaction. A biodiesel yield of 54.4% and a kinematic viscosity of 7.06 cSt were obtained at a high reaction temperature of 180°C in a batch reactor. The catalytic activity of kalsilite was significantly enhanced by introducing a small amount of lithium nitrate in the impregnation method. A biodiesel yield of 100% and a kinematic viscosity of 3.84 cSt were achieved at a temperature of only 120°C over this lithium modified catalyst (2.3 wt-% Li). The test of this lithium modified catalyst in pellet form in a laboratory-scale fixed-bed reactor showed that it maintained a stable catalytic performance with a biodiesel yield of 100% over the first 90 min.

Keywords

kalsilite / heterogeneous catalyst / transesterification / biodiesel

Cite this article

Download citation ▾
Guang WEN, Zifeng YAN. Transesterification of soybean oil to biodiesel over kalsilite catalyst. Front Chem Sci Eng, 2011, 5(3): 325‒329 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-010-0574-x

References

[1]
Boz N, Degirmenbasi N, Kalyon D. Conversion of biomass to fuel: transesterification of vegetable oil to biodiesel using KF loaded nano-γ-Al2O3 as catalyst. Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, 2009, 89(3-4): 590–596
CrossRef Google scholar
[2]
Kouzu M, Yamanaka S Y, Hidaka J S, Tsunomori M. Heterogeneous catalysis of calcium oxide used for transesterification of soybean oil with refluxing methanol. Applied Catalysis A: General, 2009, 355(1-2): 94–99
CrossRef Google scholar
[3]
Schuchardt U, Sercheli R, Vargas R M. Transesterification of vegetable oils: a review. Journal of the Brazilian Chemical Society, 1998, 9(3): 199–210
CrossRef Google scholar
[4]
Peter S K F, Ganswindt R, Neuner H P, Weidner E. Alcoholysis of triacylglycerols by heterogeneous catalysis. European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology, 2002, 104(6): 324–330
CrossRef Google scholar
[5]
Bondioli P. The preparation of fatty acid esters by means of catalytic reactions. Topics in Catalysis, 2004, 27(1-4): 77–82
CrossRef Google scholar
[6]
Suppes G J, Dasari M A, Doskocil E J, Mankidy P J, Goff M J. Transesterification of soybean oil with zeolite and metal catalysts. Applied Catalysis A: General, 2004, 257(2): 213–223
CrossRef Google scholar
[7]
Brito A, Borges M E, Otero N. Zeolite Y as a heterogeneous catalyst in biodiesel fuel production from used vegetable oil. Energy & Fuels, 2007, 21(6): 3280–3283
CrossRef Google scholar
[8]
Basu H N, Norris M E. Process for production of esters for use as a diesel fuel substitute using a non-alkaline catalyst. US Patent, <patent>5525126</patent>, 1996
[9]
Oku T, Nonoguchi M, Moriguchi T. Method of production of fatty acid alkyl esters and/or glycerin and fatty acid alkyl ester-containing composition. WIPO Patent, <patent>021697</patent>, 2005
[10]
Kim H J, Kang B S, Kim M J, Park Y M, Kim D K, Lee J S, Lee K Y. Transesterification of vegetable oil to biodiesel using heterogeneous base catalyst. Catalysis Today, 2004, 93-95: 315–320
CrossRef Google scholar
[11]
Balcão V M, Paiva A L, Malcata F X. Bioreactors with immobilized lipases: state of the art. Enzyme and Microbial Technology, 1996, 18(6): 392–416
CrossRef Google scholar
[12]
Abreu F R, Alves M B, Macêdo C C S, Zara L F, Suarez P A Z. New multi-phase catalytic systems based on tin compounds active for vegetable oil transesterification reaction. J Mol Catal A: Chemical, 2005, 227(1-2): 263–267
CrossRef Google scholar
[13]
Watkins R S, Lee A F, Wilson K. Li-CaO catalysed triglyceride transesterification for biodiesel applications. Green Chemistry, 2004, 6(7): 335–340
CrossRef Google scholar
[14]
Alonso D M, Mariscal R, Granados M L, Maireles-Torres P. Biodiesel preparation using Li/CaO catalysts: activation process and homogeneous contribution. Catalysis Today, 2009, 143(1-2): 167–171
CrossRef Google scholar
[15]
Bournay L, Hillion G, Boucot P, Chodorge J A, Bronner C, Forestiere A. Process for producing alkyl esters from a vegetable or animal oil and an aliphatic monoalcohol. US Patent, <patent>6878837</patent>, 2005
[16]
Xie W, Yang Z, Chun H. Catalytic properties of lithium-doped ZnO catalysts used for biodiesel preparations. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 2007, 46(24): 7942–7949
CrossRef Google scholar
[17]
Ma H, Li S, Wang B, Wang R, Tian S. Transesterification of rapeseed oil for synthesizing biodiesel by K/KOH/γ-Al2O3 as heterogeneous base catalyst. Journal of the American Oil Chemists’ Society, 2008, 85(3): 263–270
[18]
Xie W, Li H. Alumina-supported potassium iodide as a heterogeneous catalyst for biodiesel production from soybean oil. J Mol Catal A: Chemical, 2006, 225(1-2): 1–9
CrossRef Google scholar

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
AI Summary AI Mindmap
PDF(315 KB)

Accesses

Citations

Detail

Sections
Recommended

/