SCREENING HETEROGENEOUS CATALYSTS FOR TRANSESTERIFICATION OF TRIGLYCERIDES TO BIODIESEL

Jaime Filipe Puna; João Fernando Pereira Gomes; João Carlos Moura; M. Joana Neiva Correia; Ana Paula Vieira Soares Pereira Dias

Key information

Authors:

Jaime Filipe Puna; João Fernando Pereira Gomes; João Carlos Moura (João Carlos Moura Bordado); M. Joana Neiva Correia (Maria Joana Castelo-Branco de Assis Teixeira Neiva Correia); Ana Paula Vieira Soares Pereira Dias (Ana Paula Vieira Soares Pereira Dias)

Published in

2001

Abstract

Biodiesel, a mixture of long-chain fatty acid methyl esters (FAME), is pointed out as a feasible sustainable fuel to replace fossil fuel in the transportation sector. The homogeneous basic catalysed processes, presently in use, present several drawbacks that can be minimized by replacing homogeneous catalysts with heterogeneous ones. This work presents a first stage in the development and optimization of new heterogeneous catalysts that are capable of producing biodiesel. Cheap and environmentally benign materials, such as lime and magnesia, showed promising catalytic performance even under mild reaction conditions. Additionally, data have underlined the relevance of the catalysts stability since several tested materials showed significant FAME yield in a first reaction batch but with null behavior when reused in a second batch.