Application of Flying Jet Plasma for Production of Biodiesel Fuel from Wasted Vegetable Oil

Biodiesel, a good partial or total substitute for petrodiesel, is a renewable clean burning fuel which can be produced from transesterification of vegetable oils and animal fats with an alcohol in presence of a catalyst. Since the feedstock costs in this process constitutes more than 70 % of the overall cost, use of wasted vegetable oil (i.e. consumed cooking oil) for biodiesel production is a big challenge in terms of cost reduction and environmental impacts. Nonetheless, the content of residues in the wasted vegetable oil, formed during frying, is a major drawback could be faced in this direction. In this research, we applied an unconventional design of flying jet dielectric barrier discharge plasma torch to treat several specimens of wasted cooking oil collected from different resources before transesterification. In other experiments, the jet plasma itself was used to catalyze the reaction process. The examined plasma torch was found more feasible than conventional DBD reactor design in terms of gas and power consumptions. Upon inducting plasma treatment, the transesterification process resulted in higher biodiesel yield, lower reaction time and easier product separation than the conventional path. Upon catalyzing the reaction by the sole jet plasma effect, the biodiesel content of saturated methyl esters was higher than conventional tranesterification. Also, the yield and properties were found within commercial standards.     

The Obtaining Biodiesel from Used Vegetable Oil and Animal Waste Oil by Two Stages Transesterification Reaction

The biodiesel was obtained from used vegetable oil (UVO) and animal waste oil (AWO) by the two stages transesterification reaction. Also chemical and technical properties of feed and products were determined. Conditions of transesterification reaction for each of the oil samples were determined as a result of several sets of experiments. The suitable conditions of transesterification reaction were the following. Hereto a molar ratio of oil: methanol: catalyst was 1: 6: 1/40, for 30 min, at temperature of 600°C. To obtain biodiesel directly by the one stage transesterification, in case of using UVO sample, when the acidity number of feed oil had to less than 3 mg KOH/g. The biodiesel from UVO and AWO was prepared by mixing 5, 10, 20% of volume in the summer and winter diesel fuel. However, the product from mixture of UVO and winter diesel fuel met the technique requirements both of winter and summer diesel fuel, but the product from mixture of AWO and summer diesel fuel did not satisfy technical requirements of diesel fuel.     

Biodiesel Production from Vegetable Oils and Animal Fat over Solid Acid Double-Metal Cyanide Catalysts

Biodiesel comprises of fatty acid alkyl esters prepared from vegetable oils or animal fat by esterification/transesterification with short-chain alcohols (methanol or ethanol, for example). It is a biodegradable renewable fuel. Its production is growing exponentially due to greater concerns about environmental protection and depletion of fossil fuel resources. Further, its production from non-edible oils and animal fat is more desirable than from edible oils due to lower cost of non-edible feedstocks and elimination of food verses fuel issues. Solid acid catalysts are ideal for conversion of such low-grade oils to biodiesel. Biodiesel from non-edible oils can be produced by two methods: (1) simultaneous esterification of fatty acids and transesterification of fatty acid glycerides and (2) hydrolysis of glycerides followed by esterification. This account reports the catalytic performance of solid, Fe–Zn double-metal cyanide (DMC) complexes and other acid catalysts in these transformations for biodiesel production. The factors influencing the catalytic performance of the solid acid catalysts in biodiesel production are discussed.     

Critical review on analytical methods for biodiesel characterization

Biodiesel is an alternative fuel composed of mono-alkyl esters and obtained mainly from the base-catalyzed transesterification reaction of oils or fats. Its use (pure or blended) does not demand any modification in the diesel engine and in the existing fuel distribution and storage infrastructure. Moreover, biodiesel has a high energetic yield, fixes the solar energy and contains insignificant amounts of sulphur. Therefore, biodiesel is currently the best substitute for fossil diesel fuel.Besides mono-alkyl esters, glycerol (main co-product), alcohol, catalyst, free fatty acids, tri-, di- and monoglycerides compose the final mixture of biodiesel production process. These and other kinds of contaminants can lead to severe operational and environmental problems. Therefore, the quality control of biodiesel is greatly significant to the success of its commercialization and market acceptance. Some important issues on the biodiesel quality control involve the monitoring of transesterification reaction, the quantification of mono-alkyl esters and free- and bonded glycerol as well as determination of residual catalysts and alcohol. Moreover, the determination of blend levels is another key aspect of biodiesel analyses. Chromatography and spectroscopy are the analytical methods most used for the biodiesel characterization, but procedures based on physical properties are also available.Previously, a review on analytical methods used to evaluate biodiesel quality was written by Knothe. Due to the importance of this field, we made an update of Knothes’ review. Therefore, in this paper, we will describe new developments in biodiesel analyses and some references showed in Knothes’ paper. Specially, we will describe analytical methods used for quantification of glycerol, mono-, di-, triglycerides, methanol, water, Na, K, P, and steroids in biodiesel or along the transesterification reaction. Also, the determination of biodiesel content in blends and some physicochemical parameters are discussed. At the end, we will assess the available techniques and point out some improvements on analytical methods for biodiesel characterization.     

超声作用下KF/CaO催化酯交换反应制备生物柴油

等体积浸渍法制备了KF/CaO固体碱催化剂,用于催化大豆油与甲醇酯交换反应制备生物柴油,在反应体系中引入超声作为辅助条件。研究表明,KF/CaO催化活性高。在超声的辅助作用下,酯交换反应速率加快,生物柴油的收率提高。实验考察了反应条件对产品中脂肪酸甲酯含量的影响。醇油摩尔比为12∶1,反应温度65℃,催化剂与大豆油的质量比为3%,反应1 h,超声频率20 kHz,超声声强1.01 W/cm2,在此反应条件下,产品中脂肪酸甲酯的质量分数达到99.6%。     

Thermal stability evaluation of methylic biodiesel obtained for different oilseeds

Biodiesel is defined as a mixture of mono- or di-alquil esters of vegetable oil or animal fats. During long-term storage, oxidation caused by contact with air (autoxidation) presents a legitimate concern in relation to monitoring and maintaining fuel quality. Extensive oxidative degradation may compromise the quality by adversely affecting kinematic viscosity, acid value, or peroxide value. The oxidation susceptibility of biodiesel, due to the presence of triacilglycerides of poly-unsaturated fatty acids, was evaluated in this study. Samples of sunflower, castor, and soybean biodiesels were obtained through the transesterification reaction, with the intention of achieving the thermal stability study through thermogravimetrical analyses and differential scanning calorimetry high pressure. It was furthermore observed through thermogravimetry and pressure differential scanning calorimetry curves that castor biodiesel exhibited the highest thermal and oxidative stability.     

Development of heterogeneous catalysts for transesterification of triglycerides

This paper describes a preliminary work done towards the development of new metallic heterogeneous catalysts to be used in the transesterification reaction of triglycerides, which is of considerable interest in the production of biodiesel. Biodiesel is a mixture of mono-alkyl esters of fatty acids, and is currently manufactured by transesterification of triglycerides with methanol using NaOH or KOH as liquid base catalyst. Catalysts as such are corrosive to the equipment, and as these catalysts are present in the liquid phase, must be neutralized after the completion of the reaction, typically using HCl, thus producing salt streams. Moreover, due to the presence of free fatty acids, it reacts to form soaps as unwanted by-products, hence requiring more expensive separation processes. Therefore, there is a great need for the development of industrial processes for biodiesel production using solid acid catalysts. The key benefit of using solid acid catalysts is that no polluting by-products are formed, and the catalysts do not have to be removed since they do not mix with the biodiesel product.     

Simultaneous determination of main reaction components in the reaction mixture during biodiesel production

The proposed analytical method allows for simultaneous determination by GC using a programed temperature vaporization injector and a flame ionization detector of the main reaction components (i.e. glycerol, methyl esters, mono‐, di‐, and triacylglycerols) in the reaction mixture during biodiesel production. The suggested method is convenient for the rapid and simple evaluation of the kinetic data gained during the transesterification reaction and, also partially serves as an indicator of the quality of biodiesel and mainly, as the indicator of the efficiency of the whole production process (i.e. the conversion of triacylglycerols to biodiesel and its time progress). The optimization of chromatographic conditions (e.g. the oven temperature program, injector setting, amount of derivatization reagent, and the derivatization reaction time) was performed. The method has been validated with crude samples of biodiesel made from waste‐cooking oils in terms of linearity, precision, accuracy, sensitivity, and limits of detection and quantification. The results confirmed a satisfactory degree of accuracy and repeatability (the mean RSDs were usually below 2%) necessary for the reliable quantitative determination of all components in the considerable concentration range (e.g. 10–1100 μg/mL in case of methyl esters). Compound recoveries ranging from 96 to 104% were obtained.     

Production of Biodiesel Fuel by Transesterification of Triglycerides in the Presence of Sodium Pyrophosphate

The possibility of using anhydrous sodium pyrophosphate and its decahydrate in transesterification of triacyl glycerides (with sunflower and rapeseed oils as examples) with methanol to obtain biodiesel fuel was examined. As shown by gas-chromatographic analysis, at the vegetable oil to methanol ratio of 1: 12, temperature of 65°C, reaction time of 2 h, and catalyst concentration of no less than 6 wt %, the maximal yield of methyl esters of fatty acids (biodiesel) was 93 and 69% when using Na₄P₂O₇ and Na₄P₂O₇·10H₂O, respectively. The catalytic effect of sodium pyrophosphate in the transesterification of triacyl glycerides was attributed to its methanolysis with the formation of sodium methylate. Water present in sodium pyrophosphate decahydrate causes hydrolysis of the formed sodium methylate; therefore, the yield of methyl esters of fatty acids is lower than with anhydrous pyrophosphate. Anhydrous sodium pyrophosphate can be used repeatedly no less than five times without significant decrease in the yield of methyl esters of fatty acids. Sodium pyrophosphate can be recommended for use in transesterification with other esters and alcohols.

     

Identification and Quantitation of Reaction Intermediates and Residuals in Lipase-Catalyzed Transesterified Oils by HPLC

A high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) unit equipped with size exclusion column and a refractive index detector was used for simultaneous monitoring, identification, and quantitation of the reaction components from lipase-catalyzed transesterification of three oils. The procedure simultaneously separated and detected the unreacted triacylglycerols (TAG), diacyl-, and monoacyl-glycerol (DAG and MAG) co-products, residual alcohol as well as free fatty acid (FFA) based on retention times. The chromatograms showed well separated and resolved peaks. The elution of the components from the transesterification reaction in increasing order was: TAG < DAG < FFA < MAG. Generally, higher alcohol ratios decreased the conversion of TAG in all the oils studied with between 14% and 94% of TAG remaining at all the treatment combinations. Higher amount of salmon skin oil (SSO) TAG was generally converted to DAG than Rothsay composite (RC) and olive oil (OO) TAG. Relatively higher amount of OO DAG was converted to MAG than SSO and RC with only 5–14% DAG remaining in OO. RC and OO generally accumulated less MAG, and this was reflected as lower MAG levels in RC (<6%) and OO (<14%) compared with SSO (<27%). For the various treatment combinations and the three oils used in this study, the least amount of FFA was recorded in transesterified OO with a maximum of approximately 4%. This HPLC method can be used as a simple and fast technique to analyze the reaction components and products of transesterification reactions without the need for additional derivatization steps.     

Gas-chromatographic determination of the degree of conversion of microbiological synthesis products into biodiesel

In the development of promising methods for the production of biodiesel from different raw materials, it was proposed to perform the comparative evaluation of the degree of conversion of the source material and the effectiveness of the heterogeneous catalyst used by the gas-chromatographic determination of the resulting amount of glycerol with the direct injection of a reaction mixture (or end products) into the column without derivatization. A Bruker 430 GS gas chromatograph with a flame-ionization detector and a quartz capillary column in the isothermal regime was used for determining the glycerol formed. The degree of conversion was evaluated in a study of the transesterification of sunflower oil and microalgae lipids with the use of the enzyme catalyst Novozym 435. For comparison, the degree of conversion was determined by HPLC–MS based on the triglyceride content of the reaction mixture.     

双核碱性离子液体催化棉籽油酯交换制备生物柴油

采用两步法制备了五种新型咪唑类碱性双核功能化离子液体化合物,并考察了对棉籽油酯交换制备生物柴油的催化性能。结果表明,咪唑类碱性双核功能化离子液体具有很好的催化活性,其催化活性与阳离子中碳链长度有关。其中,双-(3-甲基-1-咪唑)亚乙基双氢氧化物离子液体的催化活性最好。催化剂量、反应时间、反应温度及醇油比对生物柴油中脂肪酸甲酯含量及选择性影响的研究发现,在催化剂用量为0.4%(质量分数),醇油摩尔比为12,反应温度为55℃,反应时间为4 h时,脂肪酸甲酯的含量和选择性分别达98.5%和99.9%。催化剂7次循环后,产物中脂肪酸甲酯含量仍达到96.2%,单甘酯和双甘酯的含量很少,表明该催化剂重复使用良好。     

Soybean biodiesel methyl esters,free glycerin and acid number quantification by 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Production of alternative fuels, such as biodiesel, from transesterification of vegetable oil driven by heterogeneous catalysts is a promising alternative to fossil diesel. However, achieving a successful substitution for a new renewable fuel depends on several quality parameters. ¹H NMR spectroscopy was used to determine the amount of methyl esters, free glycerin and acid number in the transesterification of soybean oil with methanol in the presence of hydrotalcite‐type catalyst to produce biodiesel. Reaction parameters, such as temperature and time, were used to evaluate soybean oil methyl esters rate conversion. Temperatures of 100 to 180 °C and times of 20 to 240 min were tested on a 1 : 12 molar ratio soybean oil/methanol reaction. At 180 °C/240 min conditions, a rate of 94.5 wt% of methyl esters was obtained, where free glycerin and free fatty acids were not detected. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Production of biodiesel fuel by transesterification of rapeseed oil

Fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) show large potential applications as diesel substitutes, also known as biodiesel fuel. Biodiesel fuel as renewable energy is an alternative that can reduce energy dependence on petroleum as well as air pollution. Several processes for the production of biodiesel fuel have been developed. Transesterification processes under alkali catalysis with short-chain alcohols give high yields of methyl esters in short reaction times. We investigated transesterification of rapeseed oil to produce the FAMEs. Experimental reaction conditions were molar ratio of oil to alcohol, concentration of catalyst, type of catalyst, reaction time, and temperature. The conversion ratio of rapeseed oil was enhanced by the alcohol:oil mixing ratio and the reaction temperature.     

Biodiesel Production via the Transesterification of Soybean Oil Using Waste Starfish (Asterina pectinifera)

Calcined waste starfish was used as a base catalyst for the production of biodiesel from soybean oil for the first time. A batch reactor was used for the transesterification reaction. The thermal characteristics and crystal structures of the waste starfish were investigated by thermo-gravimetric analysis and X-ray diffraction. The biodiesel yield was determined by measuring the content of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME). The calcination temperature appeared to be a very important parameter affecting the catalytic activity. The starfish-derived catalyst calcined at 750 °C or higher exhibited high activity for the transesterification reaction. The FAME content increased with increasing catalyst dose and methanol-over-oil ratio.     

Clean synthesis of biodiesel over solid acid catalysts of sulfonated mesopolymers

FDU-15-SO₃H, a solid acid material prepared from the sulfonation of FDU-15 mesoporous polymer, has been demonstrated to serve as an efficient catalyst in the esterification of palmitic acid with methanol as well as in the transesterification of fatty acid-edible oil mixture. FDU-15-SO₃H achieved an acid conversion of 99.0% when the esterification was carried out at 343 K with a methanol/palmitic acid molar ratio of 6:1 and 5 wt% catalyst loading. It was capable of giving 99.0% yield of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) when the transesterification of soybean oil was performed at 413 K and the methanol/oil weight ratio of 1:1. FDU-15-SO₃H was further applied to the transesterification/esterification of the oil mixtures with a varying ratio of soybean oil to palmitic acid, which simulated the feedstock with a high content of free fatty acids. The yield of FAME reached 95% for the oil mixtures containing 30 wt% palmitic acid. This indicated the sulfonated mesopolymer was a potential catalyst for clean synthesis of fuel alternative of biodiesel from the waste oil without further purification.     

Transesterification of Waste Frying Oil and Soybean Oil by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Combi</Emphasis>-<Emphasis Type="Italic">lipases</Emphasis> Under Ultrasound-Assisted Reactions

This work describes the use of an ultrasound system for the enzymatic transesterification of oils using combi-lipases as biocatalyst. The reactions were carried out evaluating the individual use of waste oil and fresh soybean oil, and the immobilized lipases CALB, TLL, and RML were used as biocatalysts. It was performed in a mixture design of three factors to obtain the ideal mixture of lipases according to the composition of fatty acids present in each oil, and the main reaction variables were optimized. After 18 h of reaction, ultrasound provided a biodiesel yield of about 90% when using soybean oil and 70% using the waste oil. The results showed that ultrasound technology, in combination with the application of enzyme mixtures, known as combi-lipases, and the use of waste oil, could be a promising route to reduce the overall process costs of enzymatic production of biodiesel.     

Coupling transesterifications for no-glycerol biodiesel production catalyzed by calcium oxide

In this study, a method consisting in coupling transesterifications for no-glycerol biodiesel production catalyzed by CaO was put forward. The transesterification between rapeseed oil and methanol was greatly improved by integrating glycerol and dimethyl carbonate (DMC) transesterification. From this result, it was found that the high fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) yield of 92.6% (with ultra-traces of glycerol as a by-product) was obtained at 65 °C under normal pressure, which is as high as the previously reported supercritical DMC method for no-glycerol biodiesel production at a reaction temperature of 350 °C and under pressures up to 17.8 MPa. Moreover, this new method has high water tolerance, and a yield of over 82% of FAME is still achieved in the presence of 0.2% of water. The optimized reaction conditions, such as the molar ratio of DMC to methanol, the catalyst dosage and the reaction time, were investigated to produce high-quality biodiesel. The fuel properties determined and discussed in light of EN 14214 (European standards) demonstrate that the biodiesel produced using this new method has good flow properties with a cloud filter plugging point of –10 °C and a pour point of –9.4 °C. Furthermore, the amount of free glycerol was found to be as low as 0.018% in the biodiesel obtained directly from this new method without any further processing. The results of this study indicate the feasibility of producing quality biodiesel fuels without glycerol by coupling transesterifications.     

Catalytic biodiesel synthesis under supercritical conditions

Increasing atmospheric pollution with greenhouse gases, a large proportion of which are transport pollutants, is forcing the search for new fuels from renewable sources. Biodiesel is currently produced by transesterification of plant oils over heterogeneous catalysts under gentle conditions. The other recent technology dealing with the transesterification with alcohols under supercritical conditions, i.e., at high temperature and pressure, can be more efficient, the cost of the resulting biodiesel having been lower, and lower quality feedstocks having been used. Supercritical transesterification can be performed catalytically or catalyst-free. This paper provides an overview of the catalytic lipid transesterification under supercritical conditions. The influence of raw material, alcohol and catalyst, as well as process parameters on biodiesel yield is analyzed.     

Various methods for enhancement in heterogeneous catalysed biodiesel production reaction rate

The biodiesel can be produced by transesterification and esterification reaction with edible and non-edible oil respectively. These reactions are catalysed by both homogeneous and heterogenous catalyst. The transesterification reactions for heterogeneous catalysts proceed at a relatively slow rate. The heterogeneous reaction mixture constitutes a three-phase system, oil/alcohol/catalyst therefore the mass transfer limitation controls the reaction rate. In the present study Tetra-hydrofuran, Hexane and Heptane as co-solvent have been tested for the transesterification and esterification reaction. Tetra-hydrofuran, assists in decreasing the mass transfer between the oil and methanol phases. Tetra-hydrofuran was found to be the best co-solvent. It also represents that the presence of Tetra-hydrofuran only enhance the solubility of phases not final equilibrium yield. Results are compared with homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysed reaction. Ultrasonic irradiation influenced the mixing of the reaction mixture and resulted in higher yields, for each co-solvent case.