Catalyst Weight Percent Research Articles

Formulation of a carbon-based solid acid catalyst from groundnut husk for the esterification of oleic acid

In this research, a biochar was prepared from groundnut husk and sulphuric acid. The biochar wassulphonated with chlorosulphonic acid to give a carbon-based sulphonated solid acid catalyst (SAC). The catalyst was characterised by N2 adsorption and desorption at 77K after degassing overnight under vacuum at 250˚ C, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and total acid density measurement. The results of the acid density measurement showed that the sulphonated biochar has a relatively high acid density of 3.2 mmol/g, while that of the non-sulphonated counterpart is 0.56 mmol/g. Comparison of the percentage conversion of oleic acid by esterification with methanol and butanol was carried out under three different conditions, viz: without catalyst, with the non-sulphonated biochar and with the sulphonated biochar, under the same experimental conditions of 5% catalyst weight percent (based on weight of acid), acid-methanol mole ratio of 1:12, reaction temperature of 70 oC, and five hours reaction time. Up to 91.6% percentage conversion of oleic acid to methyl oleate and 86.4% for butyl oleate were achieved, proving the effectiveness of the sulphonated biochar in catalysing the esterification reaction of oleic acid with methanol and butanol. The results of this study are expected to provide insights into the development of sustainable and cost-effective solid acid catalysts for the synthesis of oleate esters and other value-added materials from renewable feedstocks.

Synthesis of CaO@CoFe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub> Nanoparticles and its Application as a Catalyst for Biodiesel Production from Used Cooking Oil

Until now, used cooking oil (jelantah) has not been utilized optimally. This study seeks to convert this waste into biodiesel. Used cooking oil usually contains high concentration of free fatty acids which can be converted into methyl esters through trans-esterification by methanol. This effort is in line with the increasing need for renewable energy sources. Because the waste still contains high concentrations of free fatty acids, it is necessary to think about the right process and catalyst in converting it as biodiesel. One heterogeneous catalyst that is thought to excel in biodiesel production is ferrite-based nanocomposites, namely CaO@CoFe2O4 nanoparticles. The advantages of this catalyst are: it has high reactivity, thermal and chemical stability, and can be drawn by magnetic fields. This last property facilitates the catalyst isolation at the end of the process for recycling purposes. The catalytic power is expected to increase through impregnation with alkaline earth metal oxides which have a relatively high basicity, namely CaO. The purpose of this study was to synthesize and to characterize CaO@CoFe2O4, then to study its potential catalytic in biodiesel production from used cooking oil in various weight percent of catalyst. The main steps include: (1) synthesis of CoFe2O4 by coprecipitation; (2) Impregnation of CaO into CoFe2O4 and converted to CaO@CoFe2O4; (3) Characterization of the synthesized material by XRD, BET, and SEM/EDX; (4) application of CaO@CoFe2O4 in biodiesel production from used cooking oil; (5) characterization of biodiesel produced by viscosity measurement, yield and GC-MS analysis results. Based on the results of XRD and SEM/EDX analysis, the CaO@ CoFe2O4 catalyst has been successfully synthesized. Under optimal conditions, the yield of methyl ester produced with the addition of 2% of catalyst was 80.62%.

Experimental studies on reactive distillation of propionic acid using n-butanol as entrained

Reactive distillation is a cost effective chemical engineering process intensification method which involves the reaction and separation simultaneously in a single unit. In the present work the system selected was Propionic acid and n-butanol which undergoes esterification reaction to form butyl propionate. Propionic acid is an important raw material from a biodegradable polymer. The experiments were done in both conventional batch distillation and reactive distillation. In conventional batch distillation no catalyst were used were as in reactive distillation amberlite catalyst used with various weight percentage. several experiments performed by varying the initial concentration(i.e. 0.1,0.2,0.4,0.6,0.8,0.99) of Propionic acid, mole ratios of Propionic acid & n-butanol(that is 1:1 ,1:1.5 ,1:2 And amberlite catalyst weight percent (i.e. 1,2 and 3).the conventional batch distillation and reactive distillation were compared. it is found that maximum conversion obtained in conventional distillation process is 81% and in reactive distillation is 95.1% at the optimum conditions are at initial concentration 0.6 ,mole ratio 1:2 And amberlite catalyst weight percentage 3 .And the recovery of water is more in reactive distillation as compared with the conventional batch distillation .So reactive distillation process is better than conventional distillation.

Glycerin purification using asymmetric nano-structured ceramic membranes from production of waste fish oil biodiesel

Biodiesel is an environmental friendly alternative liquid transportation fuel that can be used in diesel engines without major modifications. The scope of this research work is to produce biodiesel from waste fish oil and its purification from the byproducts using a ceramic membrane. Transesterification of waste fish oil was applied for the biodiesel production using methanol in the presence of KOH as a catalyst. Effect of catalyst weight percent, temperature and methanol to oil molar ratio (MR) on the biodiesel yield have been studied and the results show that highest methyl ester yield of 79.2% has been obtained at 60 °C, MR: 6 and 1% KOH. The produced biodiesel purified by a ceramic membrane. Membrane flux and glycerin removal at different operating conditions such as temperature, trans-membrane pressures and cross flow velocities have been measured. Glycerin purity by membrane method is 99.97% by weight at the optimum condition. The highest membrane flux occurred at 50 °C temperature, 1 bar pressure and 3 m/s velocity.

Performance studies of electrobiosynthesis of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2) for phenol degradation

Semiconducting oxide photocatalysts have been increasingly focused in recent years due to their potential applications in solar energy conversion and environmental purification. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles is one of the most popular semiconductor in wide variety of field such as industrial, medical, cosmetic and as photocatalytic agent to treat wastewater. In this study reports the effectiveness of titanium dioxide nanoparticles that has been synthesized with ethanolic hibiscus leaf extract. We studied the influence of the green synthesis of the TiO2 semiconductor by testing a series of performance tests on degradation of phenol in aqueous solution by using different weight percent of catalyst. From the results, the 500ppm concentration of the solvent extract synthesized with the catalyst contributed to the highest percentage (97%) of phenol degradation in pH 5 after 2 hours of visible light irradiation. Therefore, it is suggested that TiO2 synthesized with Hibiscus rosa-sinensis leaves extract could be a good alternative for phenol degradation

Investigation of linear alkylbenzene synthesis using nanotitania-supported Dawson heteropolyacid as catalyst by statistical design approaches

Alkylation of benzene with 1-decene for production of linear alkylbenzene in the presence of nanotitania (n-TiO2)-supported Dawson heteropolyacids was studied. Various operating parameters including benzene to 1-decene molar ratio, catalyst weight percent (wt%), catalyst loading (wt%), calcination temperature, reaction time, and temperature influenced the reaction yield. Fractional factorial design was employed to screen these parameters, and significant parameters modeled by a central composite design. Finally, the best conditions were defined by using nonlinear Nelder–Mead optimization to reach maximum reaction yield.

Comparison of RSM and ANN for the investigation of linear alkylbenzene synthesis over H14[NaP5W30O110]/SiO2 catalyst

Design of experiments (DOE) and artificial neural networks (ANNs) were successfully applied for studying the operating parameters of benzene alkylation with 1-decene over H14[NaP5W30O110]/SiO2 catalyst. In this reaction catalyst loading, catalyst weight percent and benzene to 1-decene molar ratio (Bz/C10) were chosen as independent variables in experimental design. Prediction of 1-decene conversion and 2-phenyldecane selectivity was performed applying response surface method (RSM) and ANN models. Final selected multi-layer (3-6-2-2) ANN model resulted a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.95 for 1-decene conversion and 0.99 for 2-phenyldecane selectivity, while the R2 of RSM was 0.93 and 0.92 for these two parameters.

Wear behavior of silicone rubber/carbon black coatings on 6061 aluminum alloy surfaces

In this paper, the effects of structural and process variables on wear resistance of silicone rubber/carbon black coatings on 6061 aluminum alloy surfaces are studied. Testing parameters have been optimized for maximum wear resistance based on taguchi orthogonal design with six important parameters, viz. polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) molecular weight, oxime/OH ratio, catalyst weight percent, pigment weight percent, surface preparation method and adhesion promoter type. The analysis of variance showed that the wear resistance strongly depends on oxime/OH ratio and catalyst weight percent. PDMS molecular weight and pigment weight percent also have intermediate effects. Neither the surface preparation method nor adhesion promoter type had any effects on wear resistance in this study. The optimum sample was prepared according to the best levels of each factor and the wear resistance in optimum conditions was reasonably in agreement with the experimental data. Scanning electron microscopy analysis of wear surface and debris showed two mechanisms: cohesive wear with fatigue mechanism and interfacial wear with adhesion mechanism.

Investigation of Silica-Supported Preyssler Nanoparticles as Nanocatalysts in Alkylation of Benzene With 1-Decene Using Artificial Intelligence Approach

Silica-supported Preyssler nanoparticles were synthesized and tested in alkylation of benzene with 1-decene. Adaptive network based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) was successfully applied for studying the operating parameters of this catalytic reaction. The reaction was carried out at a constant temperature of 80 °C for 2 h, while catalyst loading, catalyst weight percent, and benzene to 1-decene molar ratio (Bz/C10) were chosen as independent variables. Prediction of 1-decene conversion and linear alkylbenzene (LAB) production yield were performed by applying ANFIS method. The predictive ability and accuracy of ANFIS model were examined using unseen experimental data set and R2 was obtained to be 0.994 and 0.995 for 1-decene conversion and LAB production yield, respectively. Experimental results revealed that catalyst loading, Bz/C10 molar ratio, and catalyst weight percent have positive effect on 1-decene conversion, while increase in catalyst loading tends to decrease LAB production yield.

THE CYCLIZATION OF NATURAL RUBBER

The effects of solvent, temperature, time, weight percent of catalyst on the rate and mechanism of cyclization of natural rubber (NR) was studied in toluene and xylene solutions having tin tetra chloride catalyst (SnCl4). Iodometric titration show, with 8% SnCl4 (based on polymer weight) cyclization occurs, leaving 27.4% of the total unsaturation. Infrared spectra of cyclized NR show decreased absorption intensity at 840 and 780 cm-1 which are characteristic bands of the linear polymer and the appearance of absorption and at 890 cm-1 as cycles were formed. By using this chemical modification, NR is transformed into a resinous thermoplastic, hard, non rubbery cyclized material with much less unsaturation than the original rubber, which ou7ld find commercial applications as adhesives, printing inks, industrial and ship paints.

Catalyzed burning rates of ammonium perchlorate and polymethylmethacrylate mixtures

The catalytic effect of Fe2O3, carbon black and SiO2 (“Aerosil”) on the burning rates, u, of ammonium perchlorate (AP) and AP-polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) mixtures was studied. An increase in the catalyst weight percent, C, in the mixture caused a significant increase in u only at C ≤ 5–10% (in some cases even at C ≤ 1–2%). Dependence of the burning rate on the catalyst specific surface area, S, is slight (if S is not too small). Strong catalyst agglomeration (especially for Aerosil) was observed in the burning zone. The rate of catalytic reaction, W, in the burning zone was calculated. The comparison of W with catalytic reaction rates measured in conventional chemical reactors leads to the conclusion that the weight part of the mixture reacting on catalyst under the burning condition is very small. A heterogeneous-homogeneous mechanism of catalysis in flames is suggested.