Nano KF/γ-Al2O3catalyzed transesterification of soybean oil for biodiesel production by using ultrasonic irradiation

作者：Ren, Qing-Gong; Yan, Jie; Huang, Guan-Hua; Qiu, Tai-Qiu^*; Yang, Ri-Fu; Fan, Xiao-Dan

来源：Journal of Central South University(Science and Technology), 2010, 41(3): 883-889.

• Biodiesel production
• Experimental parameters
• Fluorin
• Maximum concentrations
• Mechanical stirring
• Optimized conditions
• Reaction temperature
• Ultrasound irradiation

The nano-structured KF/γ-Al2O3-catalyzed synthesis of biodiesel was performed in ultrasonic irradiation. Effects of experimental parameters including ultrasonic power density, molar ratio of methanol to soybean oil, catalyst amount, reaction temperature and time on the transesterification of soybean oil and methanol were investigated. The fresh and used catalysts were characterized by means of XRD, TEM and BET. The results indicate that increasing the ultrasonic power density causes the increase in the methyl esters concentration of the transesterification. The maximum concentration of methyl esters is 98.70% under the following optimized conditions: ultrasonic power density 53.3 W/L; molar ratio of methanol to soybean oil 6:1; mass ratio of catalyst to soybean oil 3%; reaction temperature 45°C and reaction time 35 min. In comparison to the mechanical stirring, the ultrasonic irradiation allows the significant reduction of the amounts of KF/γ-Al2O3 and methanol and the time requires for reaching equilibrium. The structure of nano KF/γ-Al2O3 surface does not change, but the specific surface area of the nano-catalyst greatly reduces from 60.34 m2/g to 37.26 m2/g after transesterification of soybean oil and methanol in the ultrasound field.

• 出版日期2010-6
• 单位华南理工大学