Effect of calcination temperature on the application of molybdenum trioxide acid catalyst: Screening of substrates for biodiesel production

• Published in: Fuel (Guildford) Vol. 239; pp. 290 - 296
• Main Authors: Pinto, Bernardo Ferreira, Garcia, Marco Aurélio Suller, Costa, Jean Claudio Santos, de Moura, Carla Verônica Rodarte, de Abreu, Wiury Chaves, de Moura, Edmilson Miranda
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01-03-2019; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Biodiesel; Biodiesel fuels; Biofuels; Calcination temperature; Catalysis; Catalysts; Chemical properties; Chemical synthesis; Cooking; Cooking oils; Diesel; Molybdenum; Molybdenum oxides; Molybdenum trioxide; Oils & fats; Organic chemistry; Roasting; Soybeans; Substrates; Transesterification; X-ray diffraction; Molybdenum trioxide; Transesterification; Calcination temperature; Biodiesel
• ISSN: 0016-2361; 1873-7153
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fuel.2018.11.025

•Modification on calcination temperatures improved the catalytic performances;•Active catalyst in transesterification/esterification reactions of many substrates;•High performance in 8 successive runs without significant catalytic loss;•Green recycle: from one cycle to another, any washing procedure was necessary.
The influence of calcination temperatures on the physical-chemical properties and catalytic performance of MoO3 catalysts, synthesized using a hydrothermal approach, was studied. We present herein a catalyst calcined at 600 °C able to convert buriti, babassu, soybean, pequi, macauba, and waste cooking oils into biodiesel with yields over 90% under optimized conditions. In addition, the catalyst was used up to 8 times without significant performance loss and without the need for washing between one run and another. We also found out that a very small catalyst concentration (0.50%) was necessary for best results. The materials that underwent high calcination temperatures were characterized by TG, FT-IR, BET, adsorption-desorption isotherms and X-ray diffraction.