Search

This paper deals with esterification of free fatty acids (FFAs) in acid oil (a byproduct of oil refining) to obtain biodiesel. Sulfonic acid-functionalized silica (SiO-Pr-SOH) was used as promising solid-acid catalyst. The conditions affecting conversion to fatty acid methyl esters (FAME), for example reaction temperature, reaction time, catalyst concentration, and methanol-to-oil molar ratio, were investigated and optimized by use of the Taguchi method. The highest conversion obtained under the optimized conditions was 96.78 % after 8 h. Analysis of variance revealed that temperature was the most significant factor effecting conversion among the four conditions studied. The experimental results were found to fit a pseudo first-order kinetic law. SiO-Pr-SOH is a highly effective, reusable, and environmentally benign catalyst for biodiesel production from waste low-cost oil feedstock with a high FFA content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biodiesel synthesis from acid oil (AO) containing high free fatty acids (FFA) over pore expanded sulfonic acid functionalized mesostructured SBA-15 was studied. Reaction parameters affecting the FAME yield were optimized using Taguchi design. 99% FFA conversion was obtained under optimum conditions viz. at 100 °C with 4 wt.% catalyst amount and 1:15 oil to methanol ratio after 8 h. Kinetic study revealed that the reaction followed pseudo first order kinetic law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]