Abstract
A two-step acid/alkali-catalysis method was developed to produce biodiesel from Firmiana platanifolia L.f. seed oil obtained from continuous-screw squeezing and solvent extraction by absolute ethanol. The esterification of Firmiana platanifolia L.f. seed oil with ethanol was carried out with the strong-acid cation exchange resin to decrease the content of free fatty acids (FFAs) below 1wt. %. A NaA zeolite membrane was used for dehydration in the coupled reactor. Alkali-catalysis transesterification was performed with 0.08% (m/m oil) of KOH and 6:1 of molar ratio of methanol to oil, reaction time of 30min, and reaction temperature of 60°C. Results showed that the combination of esterification with vapor permeation (VP) or pervaporation (PV) could greatly shift the reaction equilibrium forward. The FFAs conversion rates higher than 99.0% were obtained under the conditions of ethanol to oil molar ratio of 15:1, catalyst dosage of 40.0wt.% and temperature of 78°C, and operation time of 7h. Moreover, the properties of the biodiesel meet the standards of American Society for Testing Material (ASTM), European Norm (EN) and Chinese Standard (GB).
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