Studies on a Customized Carbon Catalyst in Biodiesel Production from Waste Sunflower Oil

• Published in: Energy sources. Part A, Recovery, utilization, and environmental effects Vol. 35; no. 7; pp. 595 - 603
• Main Authors: Sivakumar, P., Suganya, T., Renganathan, S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 01-04-2013
• Subjects: biodiesel; carbon catalysts; Helianthus; transesterification
• ISSN: 1556-7036; 1556-7230
• DOI: 10.1080/15567036.2010.504944

In this study, transesterification of waste sunflower oil with high free fatty acid was studied in a combined heterogeneous and homogeneous catalytic system. Production of hetero-carbon catalyst and their characteristics were done. The effects of the heterogeneous carbon on the homogeneous acid and base catalyzed transesterification reaction were analyzed. Parameters, such as reaction temperature, reaction time, and excess methanol, affecting the reaction were optimized to obtain a high yield of biodiesel. The results clearly showed that the introduction of customized carbon reduced both acid and base catalyst consumption. It was observed that carbon alone is not responsible for catalyzing the transesterification reaction but the addition of carbon reduces the homogeneous catalyst consumption. It was found that the catalytic activity of carbon with acid catalyst was found to have maximum performance. The highest conversion of waste sunflower oil was found to be 82% with acid catalyst at the following optimized process conditions: Combination of 1.5 wt% H
2
SO
4
, 5 wt% carbon, 90 minutes reaction time at 65°C, and 100% excess methanol.