Study on Kinetics and Reaction Parameters of Biodiesel Production from Sunflower Oil and Methanol Using Zinc Oxide Supported Calcium Oxide

This study investigated the effect of reaction parameter, reaction kinetics and mechanism of transesterification of sunflower oil with methanol by using CaO/ZnO heterogeneous catalyst. The influence of reaction time, molar ratio and catalyst amount and reaction temperature on fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) yield was investigated. The catalysts were prepared by incipient wetness impregnation and characterized by using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Hammett indicator method. The FAME contents were analyzed by gas chromatography using the EN 14103 standard method. The highest FAME yield of 82% was obtained at 9/1 methanol/oil molar ratio, 3 wt.% catalyst amount and 3 hours of reaction time at 65 °C of reaction temperature by using 20% CaO/ZnO catalyst. The reaction could be considered pseudo first order with respect to triglyceride (TG). The reaction model based on Eley-Rideal mechanism was proposed where adsorbed methanol reacted with TG before desorption of glycerin. The results showed that experimental reaction rates exhibited good agreement with calculated reaction rates

Kinetics, Equilibrium and Thermodynamic Studies on Removal of Oleic Acid from Sunflower Oil onto Amberlyst A21

Amberlyst A21 was used for the oleic acid adsorption from sunflower oil (SFO). The impacts of parameters such as contact time, temperature, and mass ratio of adsorbent on oleic acid adsorption were studied. The characterization of Amberlyst A21 before and after adsorption was performed by using Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The adsorption reached equilibrium 480 minutes later. The increase in temperature and the amount of adsorbent caused an increase in the amount of adsorbed oleic acid. The adsorption kinetics, isotherms, and thermodynamics were studied. The pseudo-first order kinetics well described the adsorption for all studied temperatures. The Langmuir, Freundlich, and Dubinin−Radushkevich isotherms and thermodynamic analysis were investigated at equilibrium. The suitability of the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms indicated that the adsorption takes place under monolayer and heterogeneous surfaces. Thermodynamical results showed that adsorption occurs spontaneously and endothermic

Synthesis of Solketal from Glycerol and Acetone over Amberlyst-46 to Produce an Oxygenated Fuel Additive

Recently, with rapid consumption of fossil fuel sources all over the world, the interest in alternative fuels has increased. Biodiesel is one of the most preferable one produced by transesterification of triglyceride with alcohol, yielding glycerol as the by-product. As a drawback, increase in biodiesel production has lead to an increase in availability of glycerol. In this work, glycerol was converted to solketal in 84 % chemical yield under optimum conditions via reaction of acetone over Amberlyst-46 heterogeneous catalyst. Solketal was blended 3, 5, 7 and 10 vol% with oxygenate free gasoline. When compared to unblended gasoline the higher values of research octane number and motor octane number were obtained with blended ones

Improvement of fuel properties of biodiesel with bioadditive ethyl levulinate

Biodiesel has poor cold flow properties due to their high saturated fatty acid content. Ethyl levulinate is used as bio-based cold flow improver additive in biodiesel. In this work, both ethyl levulinate and biodiesel were synthesized in the laboratory. Ethyl levulinate was added to the biodiesel at different rates, i.e, 5, 10, 15, 20 (vol %). The effect of ethyl levulinate addition on density, kinematic viscosity, acid value, cloud point and pour point was determined and compared to the EN 14214 and ASTM D6751 specification. Consequently, ethyl levulinate appears acceptable as a cold flow improver for biodiesel fuel

Improvement of fuel properties of biodiesel with bioadditive ethyl levulinate

Biodiesel has poor cold flow properties due to their high saturated fatty acid content. Ethyl levulinate is used as bio-based cold flow improver additive in biodiesel. In this work, both ethyl levulinate and biodiesel were synthesized in the laboratory. Ethyl levulinate was added to the biodiesel at different rates, i.e, 5, 10, 15, 20 (vol \%). The effect of ethyl levulinate addition on density, kinematic viscosity, acid value, cloud point and pour point was determined and compared to the EN 14214 and ASTM D6751 specification. Consequently, ethyl levulinate appears acceptable as a cold flow improver for biodiesel fuel