Generation of biodiesel and glycerol from waste of rice industries in Brazil

Abstract

Biodiesel is the most promising alternative fuel for replacing diesel in diesel engines, its use as a diesel substitute can reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and smoke. Among the techniques capable of promoting the production of biodiesel, the most used on an industrial scale is the transesterification of raw materials. Brazil has a socioeconomic advantage in the production of biodiesel due to the high availability of raw materials in the agro-industrial sector. A culture capable of providing a low-cost source of triglycerides in the Rio Grande do Sul is the rice culture, as its processing generates bran as a by-product of rice, considered an agricultural residue, from which it is possible to extract vegetable oil. Brazil is the ninth largest rice producer in the world, therefore, the present study aims to explore the production of biodiesel via basic transesterification of rice bran vegetable oil with high quality in order to encourage the use of biofuel and promote the diversification of its matrix. On the whole, the paper leads the conclusion that biodiesel of rice bran oil production via methyl transesterification using KOH as a catalyst with 7.5:1 of molar ratio, 1.25% catalyst and 60 minutes of reaction, is viable and capable of producing biodiesel with the quality required by ANP, EN and ASTM specifications for yield, moisture, kinematic viscosity, acidity index, saponification and iodine.