engleski

Influence of the Reaction Parameters and Catalyst Selection on the Synthesis of Fatty Acid Isobutyl and Isopentyl Esters

Fatty acid isobutyl and isopentyl esters (FAIBE and FAIPE, respectively), as types of biodiesel, can be synthesized via transesterification reaction in the presence of different types of catalysts. The most commonly used are chemical alkaline or acidic catalysts, however the transesterification reaction can be enzymatic as well. Here, the biodiesels were synthesized with the use of different sorts of feedstock (sunflower oil, rapeseed oil, coconut oil, animal fat and waste cooking oil) and chemical catalysts (potassium hydroxide and sulphuric acid). The influence of the temperature, time, molar ratio of the reactants and mass fraction of the catalyst on the reaction conversion was studied. The results showed that the highest reaction conversions of 95-100 % were obtained with the use of alcohol isobutanol and potassium hydroxide as a catalyst, whereas in the case of isopentanol, the highest achieved conversions were around 85 %. To possibly further improve the conversion of FAIPE, additional experiments with sulphuric acid were conducted. Overall, the most significant reaction parameters for the synthesis of these biodiesels were the molar ratio of the reactants and the mass fraction of the catalyst.

biodiesel ; transesterification ; isobutanol ; isopentanol ;

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