Production of biodiesel through esterification catalysed by Ionic liquids

Biodiesel is an alternative diesel fuel that is produced from vegetable oils and animal fats. Currently, most biodiesel is made from oils, methanol, and an alkaline catalyst. Conventional catalysts is commonly used for catalyzing esterification of fatty acid to produce biodiesel. However, a better and greener method was found. An ionic liquid (IL) is a molten salt consisting of a cation and an anion, with low melting temperature. It offers a better solution than sulfuric acid, because it can be recycled and reused in subsequent runs after recovery steps. In this study, a Brønsted acidic IL, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hydrogen sulfate ([BMIM][HSO4]) was used as a catalyst in the esterification of oleic acid with methanol into biodiesel. The effect of different operation parameters such as methanol to oil molar ratio, amount of catalyst, reaction temperature, and reaction time were tested. The optimum conditions for esterification of oleic acid were identified as oleic acid/methanol molar ratio of 1/10, amount of catalyst 10 wt%, reaction time of 4 h, and reaction temperature of 90oC. FAME content of produced biodiesel was analyzed and confirmed using GC chromatography.

Amphiphilic catalysts for the treatment of oily wastewaters

The main objective of this study was to obtain an effective catalyst for removal of diazo dye - Sudan IV by Catalytic Wet Peroxide Oxidation (CWPO). For this purpose liquid phase treatment was used to increase the basicity of activated carbon surface favoring the adsorption of organic pollutants. Modified activated carbon catalysts were used in different types of experiments: 1) decomposition of H2O2 in aquatic media, 2) decomposition of H2O2 in organic media, 3) adsorption of Sudan IV, 4) Sudan IV removal by CWPO. As the result of all of these experiments the most effective catalyst was obtained and discussed. It was not observed removal of Sudan IV from biphasic system by CWPO. The obtained results in some cases show a slight increase in concentration of Sudan IV, which may be ascribed to experimental errors. Different factors could be the reason of those errors. For example, the high volatility properties of organic media used in experiments should be taken into account during experiments. Under settled reaction temperature the decrease of cyclohexane volume during experiment could give rise in Sudan IV concentration. The initial concentration of model diazo dye also should be reviewed more detailed for CWPO experiments. Despite of these experimental errors the behavior of our catalysts in different media was observed.