Abstract
The distillate from the deodorization of palm oil (DDPO) is an agro-industrial residue, approximately 84% of which consists of free fatty acids (FFAs), which can be used for the production of fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEE). A catalyst (10HPMo/AlSiM) obtained from a waste material, Amazon flint kaolin, was applied in the esterification of the DDPO, reaching a conversion index of 94%, capable of maintaining satisfactory activity (>75%) after four consecutive cycles. Flint kaolin is therefore proven to be an efficient option in the search for new heterogeneous low-cost catalysts obtained from industrial by-products, contributing to the reduction of environmental impact and adding value to widely available wastes that would otherwise be discarded directly into the environment. Based on the catalytic results, esterification of DDPO using 10HPMo/AlSiM can be a cheaper alternative for the production of sustainable fuels.
Highlights
This study focused on the synthesis, characterization and application of a catalytic material as a contribution to Green Chemistry, since this catalyst comes from residues which are abundant in the Amazon region [15]
For the esterification reaction, the initial conversion of 62% obtained 30 min after the start of the reaction gradually increased over time (Figure 1a)
Experimental investigations revealed that the 10HPMo/AlSiM catalyst exhibited excellent catalytic activity during the esterification reaction of deodorization of palm oil (DDPO) with ethanol, reaching a conversion of 94%
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. In the Amazon, the production of kaolin generates significant amounts of tailings, among which flint kaolin, FK, is deposited in the mine after the exploitation of soft kaolin, generating major environmental impacts, as it mainly comprises clay mineral kaolin, and contains high levels of silicon, aluminum, titanium and iron [21,22,23] These low-quality kaolinitic tailings have been used as a raw material in various chemical processes, including as a catalyst [18,22,24,25,26], catalytic support [4,27], in zeolite synthesis [21,28,29] and as mesopore [15,16,17]. The reaction between ethanol and DDPO (as a source of FFAs) was chosen as both reagents have greener properties and are widely available for the production of renewable FAEE
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