Abstract
Biodiesel is considered an important substitute of diesel oil. Traditionally, it is obtained by the transesterification of vegetable oils with methanol or ethanol, catalyzed by NaOH or KOH. Heterogeneous catalysts have been studied with the aim at facilitating and diminishing costs with purification stages. In the present work, the Na/Nb2O5 system was evaluated on the reaction of soybean oil with ethanol. It was verified, by DRX and IR, that the niobia calcined at 500ºC and impregnated with sodium underwent greater structural alterations than that treated at 300°C. These modifications allowed the generation of basic properties on niobia surface (Hammett and CO2 adsorption /IR). This catalyst showed the highest conversion (30%) among the used materials. The method chosen for evaluating the catalysts yield was the 1H NMR spectroscopy.
Highlights
Increasing development in the area of renewable energy has led to innumerable researches aimed at the use of biodiesel as a substitute for petroleum-derived diesel fuel
A qualitative analysis of the spectrum of the sample of interest (Fig. 3 (b)) reveals the appearance of a band at 1037 cm-1. This vibration is characteristic of stretching of the C-O bond of primary alcohol esters, which allows for the identification of the presence of ethyl ester, the main constituent of biodiesel
For the other liquid samples obtained through several reaction conditions and with both catalysts (NaNb500 and NaNb300), it was possible to detect the existence of biodiesel in the products
Summary
Increasing development in the area of renewable energy has led to innumerable researches aimed at the use of biodiesel as a substitute for petroleum-derived diesel fuel. The generation of basicity on the surface of niobium was investigated through the addition of NaOH with the purpose of using it as a catalyst of the transesterification of refined soybean oil with ethanol. CO2 thermodesorption assays were monitored by spectroscopy in the IV region to evaluate the basic properties of the catalysts, using a Nicolet Magna 560 IR spectrometer.
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