Abstract
Deactivation of solid catalyst often occurs in biodiesel production. In this work, deactivated modified red mud catalysts used in biodiesel production were regenerated with hexane and calcination treatments. The deactivated and regenerated catalysts were characterized using XRD, FTIR, SEM, TG, N2 adsorption, measured for their basic strength, and tested in the transesterification of canola oil. The results revealed that the main cause of the catalyst deactivation is due to obstruction of the active sites by contaminants. The regeneration by washing with hexane followed by calcination can effectively improve the properties of the deactivated catalyst and increase its catalytic activity.
Highlights
Heterogeneous catalysts have attracted an attention to be used in industries due to some advantages compare to homogeneous catalyst [1]
To study the reason for the decrease of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) yield, Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was used to explain the change of chemical bond structure on the catalyst surface
The X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern of the fresh catalyst shows some active compounds for transesterification reaction, such as calcium oxide, sodium aluminate, and sodium silicate (Figure 5(a))
Summary
Heterogeneous catalysts have attracted an attention to be used in industries due to some advantages compare to homogeneous catalyst [1]. Since it exists in different phase from the mixtures, heterogeneous or solid catalyst can be separated and reused [2]. The activity of the used catalyst is generally lower than the fresh one [3]. The deactivation of solid catalyst often occurs and it is caused by some factors, such as leaching of active sites, strutural collapse, and surface poisoning by contaminants [4].
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