Transesterification Of Corn Oil Research Articles

Insight into the sulfonation conditions on the activity of sub-bituminous coal as acidic catalyst during the transesterification of spent corn oil; effect of sonication waves

The impact of the sulfonation conditions on the catalytic activity of coal as an acidic catalyst was assessed by normal stirring (NS.Coal) and sonication waves (SS.Coal) based on the Response Surface methodology. The NS.Coal exhibits acid density and surface area of 8.8 mmol/g and 27.8 m2/g, respectively. This was obtained after 90 min at sulfonation conditions of 150 °C temperature and 95% H2SO4 concentration. In the existence of sonication waves for 60 min (240 W), SS.Coal shows acid density and surface area of 14.2 mmol/g and 45.8 m2/g, respectively. This demonstrates significant efficiency for the sonication-induced sulfonation processes during the synthesis of sulfonated coal as an acidic catalyst. The activities of NS.Coal and SS.Coal acidic catalysts were evaluated during the transesterification of corn oil. The best yield was obtained by NS.Coal (4 wt, %) is 99.3% after 60 min at 60 °C in the presence of 14:1 methanol/oil ratio. The archived yields using SS.Coal at loading values of 2 wt, %, 3 wt, %, and 4 wt, % are 99.6%, 99.84%, and 99.85%, respectively after 20 min. The kinetic properties of reactions were illustrated based on the Pseudo-First order assumption. The thermodynamic studies demonstrate the endothermic properties of the corn oil transesterification reactions. The determined activation energy by NS.Coal and SS.Coal are 26.22 kJ/mol and 17.7 kJ/mol, respectively reflect the possible use of them as effective catalysts at low energy and mild conditions.

Novel rare-earth metal oxides-zirconia nanocatalysts for biodiesel production from corn oil and waste cooking oil

New rare-earth metal oxides (REOx)-zirconia (ZrO2) nanocatalysts, LaxCe1-xO2-0.5x-ZrO2 with different compositions (x = 0, 0.2, 0.5, 0.8 and 1) were synthesized through co-precipitation method and characterized. The prepared nanocatalysts were used for biodiesel production from transesterification of corn oil and waste cooking oil (WCO). The catalytic performance of the calcined nanocatalysts at four temperatures, ranging 500–800 °C was investigated, indicating the maximum transesterification yield for La0.2Ce0.8O1.9-ZrO2 (x = 0.2), calcined at 700 °C. The effects of various parameters such as catalyst composition, calcination temperature and methanol/oil molar ratio (i.e., 5, 15 and 25) on the transesterification reaction yield were studied and discussed. According to the results, the highest biodiesel production was obtained at the optimized conditions of 15/1 methanol/oil molar ratio, 120 °C temperature and 3 h reaction time.

New catalyst for biodiesel formation: Synthesis, structural elucidation and quantum chemical calculations of new Ni(II) complexes

New Ni(II) complexes were synthesized from the coordination of the ligands derived from benzo[1,2-c]isoxazoles with Ni(II) cation.. The structure of the new complexes was characterized by elemental analyses, mass, and IR spectra. To gain a deeper insight into the geometry of Ni(II) complexes, the quantum chemical investigation was performed. The obtained results from experimental and theoretical arguments confirmed a square-planar geometry for Ni(II) complexes. These complexes were examined as homogeneous catalysts for the transesterification of corn oil with methanol. The structure of the obtained product was confirmed by 1H NMR analysis. The catalytic results showed that the new Ni(II) complexes can be considered as potential candidates for the development of new catalytic system for biodiesel production.

Analysis on the properties and emission characteristics of corn biodiesel subjected to improved transesterification

This work investigates the impact on the application of microwave heating (MWH) on transesterification of corn oil and views its effect on engine emissions. Biodiesel (BD) is produced by two processes, namely conventional- and MWH-assisted transesterification. Both the process requires the same quantity of raw oil (corn oil), alcohol (methanol) and catalysts (KOH). BD prepared by the conventional process is referred to as corn oil biodiesel (CBD). In another technique, the heating process is replaced by MWH and thus the obtained BD is termed as CBDMW. Result found that CBD involves about 55 min for 67% yield, whereas the modified fuel (CBDMW) involved 2.5 min for 91% conversion. Emissions experiments were conducted on a diesel engine using CBD and CBDMW at the same circumstances. Experimental results show that the CBDMW has lesser CO (0.09–0.12 g/kWh), NO (0.8–1.5 g/kWh), HC emissions (0.09–0.25 g/kWh) and smoke emissions (0.4–0.45 BSU) than CBD due to its improved properties.

Use of activated carbons as catalyst supports for biodiesel production

The traditional method of biodiesel production is based on the transesterification of triglycerides using an alkaline catalyst dissolved in methanol. The aim of this study was to replace a homogeneous alkaline catalyst with a heterogeneous catalyst on the carbon support. The use of a carbon enables the catalyst to be reusable in the production process, eliminates the formation of soaps and increases the glycerol purity. Fatty acid methyl esters were obtained from the transesterification of corn oil using KOH supported on activated carbon (KOH/AC). The effect of the molar ratio of methanol to oil, reaction time and catalyst amount were used to optimize the transesterification reaction. The optimum condition for waste corn oil transesterification to methyl ester was obtained below 0.75 wt.% catalyst amount. The yield was up to 92 wt.% at 62.5 °C, 1 h reaction time and 3:1 methanol-to-oil ratio. This study demonstrated that the transesterification of the waste corn oil using methanol can be effectively catalyzed by the developed catalyst.

Biodiesel production by CaO/SiO2 catalyst synthesized by the sol–gel process

In this study, CaO/SiO2 was used as a catalyst of biodiesel production process. This catalyst was synthesized by the sol-gel method, which showed a high performance. Transesterification was carried out with corn oil, methanol to oil molar ratio 16:1 and 6 wt% catalysts (based on oil) mixture, at 60 C and 600 rpm during 8 h. Catalyst synthesis variables (catalyst loading, calcination temperature and acid to water ratio) were optimized. For optimizing, the Box-Behnken experimental design method was used. The results of experimental design method showed that the purity and conversion of the produced biodiesel at the catalyst loading 70 % (CaO based on SiO2) have maximum values. Also, by increasing calcination temperature from 650 to 850 C, the purity and conversion were reduced. At a ratio of acid to water of 0.5, the best purity and conversion of biodiesel were shown. So the highest purity and conversion of biodiesel 98.5 and 85.6 % were obtained at the catalyst loading of 70 %, calcination temperature of 650 C and acid to water ratio of 0.5. The catalyst synthesized at optimal values of parameters was reused five times. The purity and conversion of produced biodiesel during each reusing of catalyst are reduced due to CaO extraction by methanol during the reaction. However, the amount of CaO extraction by methanol is lower in comparison with the other method of catalyst preparation. Finally, the kinetics of the transesterification reac- tion was investigated. The results show that transesterification of corn oil in the presence of CaO/SiO2 catalyst obey a pseudo-first order rate equation.