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A novel acid-base bifunctional Zn/Ca–Zr catalyst has been synthesized successfully for biodiesel production from palm oil and acidified oil. The influence of synthetic factors on the catalytic activity of resulting Zn/Ca–Zr were discussed. Furthermore, the FAMEs yield was optimized to achieve the maximum value using the Taguchi approach. Results showed that the catalyst synthesized using a metal stoichiometric ratio of 4 : 4: 4, hydrothermal conditions, and activation temperature of 850 °C exhibited the best activity. The highest FAMEs yield was found to be 94.9% under the conditions of 5 wt% catalyst dosage, methanol/palm oil molar ratio of 20, and temperature of 170 °C at 3 h. The contribution percentage indicated that the methanol/oil molar ratio had the most significant effect on the FAMEs yield. Moreover, the Zn/Ca–Zr catalyst can catalyze the simultaneous esterification and transesterification of acidified palm oil with a 95.1% FAMEs yield and 93.3% acid reduction rate. And a 78.2% FAMEs yield can be maintained after four repeated cycles. Molecular simulations indicated the active site of Zn was more easily attacked by FFAs for esterification, while the active site of Ca was retained to adsorb methanol for transesterification, which explained the catalyst's acid-base bifunctional characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coal-based solid acid catalysts are synthesized by incomplete carbonization followed by sulfonation approach and their activities in catalyzing esterification of oleic acid with methanol are subsequently investigated. For characterizations of catalyst, N 2 adsorption and desorption, ultimate analysis, XRD, SEM, XPS, TG, FTIR and acid amount test are employed. The synthesis conditions are optimized as carbonization at 400 °C for 1 h and sulfonation at 105 °C for 2 h, where acid amount of 1.57 mmol·g −1 is measured. Ultrasound irradiation is introduced into the esterification reactor, and the effects of different operation parameters, including the ultrasonic power, catalyst dosage, molar ratio of methanol to oleic acid, reaction temperature on the esterification efficiency under ultrasound-assisted as well as sonication-free method, have been investigated. The results demonstrate that after passing the given reaction duration of 1 h, 91.4% of esterification efficiency is obtained under the optimized conditions (i.e., ultrasonic power of 270 W, catalyst dosage of 6 wt.%, methanol to oleic acid molar ratio of 10, and reaction temperature of 67 °C). 87.9% of conversion is achieved under the same operating conditions without ultrasonic irradiation. Moreover, esterification experiments indicate that this synthesized coal-based solid acid catalyst possesses favorable catalytic activity and satisfactory recyclability in biodiesel production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fenton sludge from sewage treatment plants is a kind of hazardous waste that causes serious harm to the ecological environment. In this study, the potential of preparing a novel selective catalytic reduction (SCR) denitration (deNO x) catalyst was evaluated through selective dealkalization followed by calcination using Fenton sludge. The effects of water leaching, carbon dioxide leaching, and acid leaching methods (organic and inorganic acid) on Fenton sludge dealkalization were studied, taking the total dealkalization and active component retention rates and deNO x efficiency as comprehensive considerations. Results showed that acid leaching method has the best leaching effect on free alkali and chemically combined alkali, the order of dealkalization rates was FS H2SO4 (94.23%)>FS HCl (92.18%)>FS HNO3 (89.93%)>FS CH3COOH (81.07%). Through comprehensive comparison, FS HCl exhibited the best catalytic active and excellent selective dealkalization performance, achieving relatively high total dealkalization rate while retaining the active components to the greatest extent (86.73%). On this basis, the effects of calcination temperature on catalytic activity, as well as physical and chemical properties of the catalyst were studied. The MFS-450 catalyst exhibited the largest surface area (76.53 m2/g), pore volume (0.23 cm3/g), abundant oxygen-containing functional groups, excellent surface acidity (0.779 μmol/m2), and redox properties (5.07 mmol/g). Besides, it has the best low-temperature SCR activity and the widest reaction temperature window, with nitrogen oxide (NO x) conversion exceeding 90% at temperatures between 293 and 471 °C. This research contributes a representative example of converting Fenton sludge into valuable materials and may open a new avenue to synthesizing high-activity SCR catalyst from low-cost feedstocks. [Display omitted] • Fenton sludge, as hazardous waste, was recovered and used as deNO x catalyst. • The effect of different dealkalization methods on catalytic activity was studied. • The optimal calcination temperature of the catalyst was explored. • Physical and chemical properties of the catalyst are characterized in detail. • The modified Fenton sludge catalyst showed NO x conversion reach 100% at 304–451 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Biodiesel is produced through transesterification catalyzed La-dolomite catalyst. • La to dolomite molar ratio is optimized as 1 for La-dolomite catalyst preparation. • Biodiesel yield of La-dolomite catalyzed transesterification is up to be 98.7%. • Biodiesel yield is 95.9% for the fifth reused cycle of La-dolomite catalyst. • Activation energy of La-dolomite catalyzed transesterification is 57.68 kJ mol−1. In this study, biodiesel production through transesterification of palm oil using the lanthanum complex dolomite (La-dolomite catalyst) as the heterogeneous base catalyst is investigated. The La-dolomite catalyst preparation is optimized with the La to dolomite molar ratio of 1 and activation temperature of 800 °C. With the catalyst added mass percentage of 7 wt%, molar ratio of methanol to oil of 18, transesterification temperature of 65 °C and transesterification duration of 180 min, the biodiesel yield of 98.7% is achieved and the activation energy of the La-dolomite catalyzed transesterification is calculated to be 57.68 kJ mol−1. The La-dolomite presents satisfying reusability and the biodiesel yield is 95.9% for the fifth reused cycle, where it is 89.1% for the pure calcined dolomite catalyst. Finally, the main physicochemical properties of the transesterification product are measured and compared with GB/T 20828–2015. This study validates the application of the La-dolomite catalyst in catalyzing transesterification for the biodiesel production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]