Integration of the Vegetable Oil Extraction and Biodiesel Production Processes

iodiesel is a sustainable, low polluting fuel which can replace current diesel fossil fuel without changing the design of the combustion engine. With an aim to counteract the global warming, an integrated and intensified way of producing biodiesel needs to be introduced. Transesterification is a common method to produce biodiesel through reaction of alcohol (typically methanol and ethanol) with vegetable oil in the presence of catalyst. Vegetable oil is extracted from raw materials such as rapeseeds, soybeans or sunflowers and then refined before reaction takes place. This method however would incur high cost of production due to expensive feedstock and hence a shortcut way was investigated by introducing in-situ transesterification method, which eliminates refining stages. By using rapeseeds at specified amounts, different type of alcohols, different type and strength of catalysts and varied ratios of alcohol to hexane (vol% ), biodiesel was successfully produced using in-situ method. This method was feasible to produce high degree of conversion and large amount of biodiesel and therefore has high probability to be commercialised. The highest conversion achieved was 92%, with approximately 11.2 g of biodiesel was yielded through combination of 0.1 m sodium hydroxide in methanol and 30g of rapeseeds Re-extraction was carried out to investigate the theory that small amount of alcohol will not produce biodiesel because it will be adsorbed by the rapeseeds. This was disproved since there was no methanol recovered during re-extraction. Instead, biodiesel was adsorbed on the surface and inside the seeds. Emulsion liquid membrane (ELM) is a way to allow hexane extract the triglycerides and methanol would react with the triglycerides extracted once the emulsions break up. However, the creation was a failure. Finally, time study was carried out to investigate the biodiesel production within specified duration. Higher degree of conversion and large yield were expected for longer period of extraction and reaction. Thin layer chromatography was used to give qualitative and quantitative analysis, via image analysis software

Characterization of Ag-promoted Ni/SiO2 Catalysts for Syngas Production via Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Dry Reforming of Glycerol

The carbon dioxide (CO2) dry reforming of glycerol for syngas production is one of the promising ways to benefit the oversupply crisis of glycerol worldwide. It is an attractive process as it converts carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas into a synthesis gas and simultaneously removed from the carbon biosphere cycle. In this study, the glycerol dry reforming was carried out using Silver (Ag) promoted Nickel (Ni) based catalysts supported on silicon oxide (SiO2). The catalysts were prepared through wet impregnation method and characterized by using Bruanaer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), and Thermo Gravimetric (TGA) analysis. The experiment was conducted in a tubular reactor which condition fixed at 973 K and CO2: glycerol ratio of 1, under atmospheric pressure. It was found that the main gaseous products are H₂, CO and CH4 with H₂:CO < 1.0. From the reaction study, Ag(5)NiSiO2 results in highest glycerol conversion and hydrogen yield, accounted for 32.6% and 27.4%, respectively

Characterization of Ag-promoted Ni/SiO2 Catalysts for Syngas Production via Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Dry Reforming of Glycerol

The carbon dioxide (CO2) dry reforming of glycerol for syngas production is one of the promising ways to benefit the oversupply crisis of glycerol worldwide. It is an attractive process as it converts carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas into a synthesis gas and simultaneously removed from the carbon biosphere cycle. In this study, the glycerol dry reforming was carried out using Silver (Ag) promoted Nickel (Ni) based catalysts supported on silicon oxide (SiO2) i.e. Ag-Ni/SiO2. The catalysts were prepared through wet impregnation method and characterized by using Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), and Thermo Gravimetric (TGA) analysis. The experiment was conducted in a tubular reactor which condition fixed at 973 K and CO2:glycerol molar ratio of 1, under atmospheric pressure. It was found that the main gaseous products are H₂, CO and CH4 with H₂:CO molar ratio < 1.0. From the reaction study, Ag(5)-Ni/SiO2 results in highest glycerol conversion and hydrogen yield, accounted for 32.6% and 27.4%, respectively.

Carbon Dioxide Dry Reforming of Glycerol for Hydrogen Production using Ni/ZrO2 and Ni/CaO as Catalysts

Glycerol, byproduct from the biodiesel production can be effectively utilized as the promising source of synthesis gas (syngas) through a dry reforming reaction. Combination of these waste materials with greenhouse gases which is carbon dioxide (CO2) will help to reduce environmental problem such as global warming. This dry reforming reaction has been carried out in a fixed bed batch reactor at 700 °C under the atmospheric pressure for 3 hours. In this experiment, reforming reaction was carried out using Nickel (Ni) as based catalyst and supported with zirconium (ZrO2) and calcium (CaO) oxides. The catalysts were prepared by wet impregnation method and characterized using Bruanaer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Thermo Gravimetric (TGA), and Temperature Programmed Reduction (TPR) analysis. Reaction studies show that 15% Ni/CaO give the highest hydrogen yield and glycerol conversion that peaked at 24.59% and 30.32%, respectively. This result is verified by XRD analysis where this catalyst shows low crystallinity and fine dispersion of Ni species resulted in high specific surface area which gives 44.93 m2/g that is validated by BET. 

Aqueous phase reforming of sorbitol over sonosynthesized ca-doped ni supported on al2o3 and tio2 for production of value added chemicals

Production of value added chemicals derived from renewable carbohydrate such as sorbitol through the aqueous phase reforming is a promising technology. Aqueous phase reforming for industrial without highly effective and efficient catalyst in term of its operational lifetime and catalytic activity. Supported nickel catalyst has been identified have good selectivity of alcohols for aqueous phase reforming of sorbitol, and support such as Al2O3 and TiO2 has been identified as support which has good surface area and active sites. In this work, the effect of introducing the varying percentage of Ca (0%, 0.5%, 3% and 5%) as promoter onto 10% Ni supported on two potential catalyst support, TiO2 and Al2O3 have been investigated. The catalysts are prepared via the sonochemical method, where the catalysts are synthesized under ultrasonic irradiation for 45 minutes using ultrasonic probe at 90W using methods by Abdollahifar, et al. [1], where sonochemical method has discovered to enhance the dispersion of particles, improve surface area and increase the performance. The sonosynthesized catalysts were then subjected for characterization by using Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Xray Powder Diffractometer (XRD

Catalytic reforming of oxygenated hydrocarbons for the hydrogen production::an outlook

The catalytic steam reforming of oxygenated hydrocarbons has been holding an interest in scientific societies for the past two decades. The hydrogen production from steam reforming of glycerol, ethanol and other oxygenates such as ethylene glycol and propylene glycol are more suitable choice not just because it can be produced from renewable sources, but it also helps to decrease the transportation fuel price and making it more competitive. In addition, hydrogen itself is a green fuel for the transportation sector. The studies on the production of hydrogen from various reforming technologies revealed a remarkable impact on the environmental and socio-economic issues. Researchers became more focused on glycerol steam reforming (GSR), ethanol steam reforming (ESR) and other oxygenates to investigate the catalyst suitability, their kinetics and challenges for the sustainability of the oil and gas production. In the present work, the authors critically addressed the challenges and strategies for hydrogen production via GSR, ESR and other oxygenates reforming process. This review covers extensively thermodynamic parametric analysis, catalysts developments, kinetics and advancement in the operational process for glycerol, ethanol and few other oxygenates. This detailed investigation only highlights the steam reforming process (SRP) of these oxygenates at the laboratory experimental stage. It was found that from this review, there are many technical issues, which lead to economic challenges. The issues are yet to be addressed and thus, these particular applications require faster accelerations at the pilot scale, taking into the consideration of the current pandemic and economic issues, for a safer and greener environment

Thermodynamic Equilibrium Analysis of Triolein Hydrodeoxygenation for Green Diesel Production

AbstractThe recent trends in biofuel research outcome mainly focused on the conversion of vegetable oil to the value added hydrocarbon fuels. Hydrodeoxygenation is one of the promising route for clean energy production. In this study, triolein was selected as the model compound representing rubber seed and jatropha seed oil to produce straight chain hydrocarbon. The thermodynamic equilibrium analysis was carried out using Aspen HYSYS software to study the thermodynamic interaction between hydrogen to triolein molar ratio, reaction pressure and temperature. The study revealed that thermodynamically, the optimum feed molar ratio of H2 to triolein is at 5:1 and pressure of 70bar produced high amount of desired products, The selectivity for C18 decreases with the increased of temperature, as well as the ratio of C17/C18. The by products such as methane and propane are resulted from several side reactions, namely methanation, thermal cracking and reverse water gas shift reaction. This can possibly be minimized by using efficient and effective catalyst design

An insight into the effects of synthesis methods on catalysts properties for methane reforming

Methane can be converted into other useful products such as H2 and liquid fuels to reduce its environmental impact. Due to majorly high energy requirements and the endothermic nature of the reforming process, catalysts are essential. The catalyst preparation method is one of the aspects that can improve the catalytic performance by enhancing the catalyst’s physicochemical properties. These methods alter the metal-support interaction, thereby changing the kinetics of the catalyst which can result in enhanced productivity, reduced cost, and optimized energy requirements. This review compares state-of-the-art catalyst preparation methods and discusses their effects on the physicochemical properties of the catalysts used in methane reforming processes

Catalytic reforming of oxygenated hydrocarbons for the hydrogen production: An outlook

The catalytic steam reforming of oxygenated hydrocarbons has been holding an interest in scientific societies for the past two decades. The hydrogen production from steam reforming of glycerol, ethanol and other oxygenates such as ethylene glycol and propylene glycol are more suitable choice not just because it can be produced from renewable sources, but it also helps to decrease the transportation fuel price and making it more competitive. In addition, hydrogen itself is a green fuel for the transportation sector. The studies on the production of hydrogen from various reforming technologies revealed a remarkable impact on the environmental and socio-economic issues. Researchers became more focused on glycerol steam reforming (GSR), ethanol steam reforming (ESR) and other oxygenates to investigate the catalyst suitability, their kinetics and challenges for the sustainability of the oil and gas production. In the present work, the authors critically addressed the challenges and strategies for hydrogen production via GSR, ESR and other oxygenates reforming process. This review covers extensively thermodynamic parametric analysis, catalysts developments, kinetics and advancement in the operational process for glycerol, ethanol and few other oxygenates. This detailed investigation only highlights the steam reforming process (SRP) of these oxygenates at the laboratory experimental stage. It was found that from this review, there are many technical issues, which lead to economic challenges. The issues are yet to be addressed and thus, these particular applications require faster accelerations at the pilot scale, taking into the consideration of the current pandemic and economic issues, for a safer and greener environment