New heterogeneous catalysts for trans-esterification of triglycerides


Autoria(s): Gomes, João F.; Puna, J. F.; Bordado, J. Carlos; Correia, M. Joana
Data(s)

24/11/2011

24/11/2011

01/05/2009

Resumo

This paper describes preliminary work done towards the development of new metallic heterogeneous catalysts to be used in the transesterification reaction of triglycerides, which is of considerable interest in the production of biodiesel. Biodiesel, is a mixture of mono-alkyl esters of fatty acids, and is currently manufactured by transesterification of triglycerides with methanol using NaOH or KOH as liquid base catalyst. Catalysts as such are corrosive to the equipment, and as these catalysts are in liquid phase must be neutralized after the completion of the reaction, typically using HCl, thus producing salt streams. Moreover, due to the presence of free fatty acids it reacts to form soaps as unwanted by-products, hence requiring more expensive separation processes. Therefore, there is a great need on the development of industrial processes for biodiesel production using solid acid catalysts. The key benefit of using solid acid catalysts is that no polluting by-products are formed and the catalysts do not have to be removed since they do not mix with the biodiesel product.

Identificador

Gomes JF, Puna JF, Bordado JC, Correia MJ. New heterogeneous catalysts for trans-esterification of triglycerides. Alicerces. 2009;II(2):89-96.

1645-7943

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.21/577

Idioma(s)

eng

Publicador

Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa

Direitos

openAccess

Palavras-Chave #Engenharia química #Biodiesel #Biocombustível
Tipo

article