Abstract
The purpose of this paper was to analyze palm oil biodiesel production under different conditions and to verify the relationships between production variables in order to optimize biofuel production using response surface methodology (RSM). Biodiesel was produced through transesterification process by methyl route and alkali catalyst (NaOH) 1% (m/m). The analyzed variables were: four molar ratios (3:1, 4:1, 6:1 and 8:1); three temperature reactions (45°, 52° and 60°C); and three time reactions (40, 60 and 80 minutes). For the palm oil biodiesel production, the highest yield was 93%, obtained via a molar rate of 3:1, 52°C and 60 minutes. This result differs from previous studies that found a higher yield with molar ratio increases, implying greater expenses of methanol. Kinetic viscosity and specific mass were also analyzed, and the values are within the Brazilian, American, and European standards. The results showed that the most influent factor in biodiesel production was the molar rate. In relation to the biodiesel characterization, using the RMN H1 technique, it was possible to obtain the transesterification reaction yield of 79.50% for the 3:1 palm oil biodiesel. Through gas chromatography, it can be verified that the predominant fatty acids in the samples were palmitic and oleic acids.
Highlights
Alternative fuel sources have been widely studied due to the non-renewable character of the current and most used energy source, oil
Taking into account the different studies about molar ratio, temperature and reaction time for biodiesel production, as well as the importance of determining a more efficient process for the production of renewable energies, this paper aimed to establish the process with the highest yield using response surface methodology (RSM) in the production of palm oil biodiesel, testing the values of factors, such as molar ratio, temperature and time, as well as analyzing the kinetic viscosity and specific mass
The results obtained are according to the Brazilian (ABNT), American (ASTM) and European (EN ISO) standards (Table 3), which demand a specific mass value from 850 to 900 kg m-3
Summary
Alternative fuel sources have been widely studied due to the non-renewable character of the current and most used energy source, oil. Biodiesel is a renewable energy source, biodegradable and derivates from renewable sources, such as vegetable oils and animal fat. There are several technologies for biodiesel production, such as cracking, esterification and transesterification, which involve the management of variables, such as the molar ratio of alcohol:oil, temperature, time, and catalyst amount, determinants for the efficiency of biodiesel production. The transesterification process of fatty acids present in oils and fats is the most common and can be carried out using ethanol (ethyl route) or methanol (methyl route), which generally present better yields in the presence of an acid or basic catalyst (Rodrigues et al, 2011; Victorino et al, 2016; Abdullah et al, 2017; Gonçalves et al, 2019)
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