CALCIUM OXIDE BASED HETEROGENEOUS CATALYST DESIGN FOR THE PRODUCTION OF METHYL ESTERS FROM CANOLA OIL


Boz N.

JOURNAL OF THE FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND ARCHITECTURE OF GAZI UNIVERSITY, cilt.30, sa.4, ss.641-648, 2015 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

Özet

A calcium oxide (CaO) supported catalysts for use in the production of methyl esters from canola oil were prepared by the impregnation of potassium carbonate (K2CO3) into the support material (CaO) at the different loading ratios of K2CO3 (K2CO3/CaO ranges by weight: 1-5 %) in aqueous solutions. Synthesized catalysts were tested in a liquid batch reactor for the transesterification of canola oil with methanol resulting in fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) at the temperature range of 298-338 K, methanol/oil ratio varying between 6/1-15/1, different catalyst loading (the range of 1-7% by weight of the amount of fat basis) and 1-8 hours of reaction duration. As a result of the experiments, of calcium oxide supported catalysts, catalyst 5% by weight K2CO3/CaO (uncalcined) was the highest conversion at the following reaction conditions: alcohol/oil: 15/1, the catalyst based on the weight of the mass of oil in the amount of 3%, reaction time: 8 hours, batch reactor; 600 rpm stirring speed, methyl ester yield: 97%, reaction temperature: 333 K. Only 5% K2CO3/CaO catalyst was calcined at oven temperature of 773 K for 3 hours. It gave lower surface area and lower triglyceride conversion comparing with uncalcined 5% K2CO3/CaO catalyst. Reusability of calcined and uncalcined 5% K2CO3/CaO catalyst was also tested for two times in the same reaction condition. A non-significant loss of activity of the catalysts implied that homogeneously and heterogeneously catalyzed transesterification reactions occurred simultaneously during the reaction time.