Reuse of Magnesol® for Purification of Biodiesel

Abstract

Purification of biodiesel with dry adsorbents is an alternative method, as it uses compounds that eliminate the need for water in the process without generating liquid effluent. Currently, there is little discussion about the reuse of different types of adsorbents and in this context, the present work presents an efficient method of purification and investigates the performance of the reuse of Magnesol® in the purification of biodiesel in order to generate less waste to the environment. Therefore, the Magnesol® used was washed with several solvents with different polarity characteristics. Among the solvents tested, THF is the best solvent for the purification of Magnesol® and, after optimizing the Magnesol® purification process, it was concluded the best conditions are three washes in solvent / adsorbent ratio 30:1 at room temperature, resulting in only 3.89% of the residual value of contaminants and being an alternative for biodiesel companies.