Journal
CATALYSTS
Volume 10, Issue 2, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/catal10020158
Keywords
acid catalysis; biodiesel; biofuel; esterification; fatty acid; methanolysis; molybdenum oxide; transesterification; vegetable oil
Categories
Funding
- Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades
- European Regional Development Fund (ERDF/FEDER) [RTI2018-096294-B-C31]
- Banco de Santander
- Universidad Publica de Navarra
- [2017 SGR 128]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Non-edible vegetable oils are characterized by high contents of free fatty acids (FFAs) that prevent from using the conventional basic catalysts for the production of biodiesel. In this work, solid acid catalysts are used for the simultaneous esterification and transesterification with methanol of the FFAs and triglycerides contained in sunflower oil acidified with oleic acid. Molybdenum oxide (MoO3), which has been seldom considered as a catalyst for the production of biodiesel, was used in bulk and alumina-supported forms. Results showed that bulk MoO3 is very active for both transesterification and esterification reactions, but it suffered from severe molybdenum leaching in the reaction medium. When supported on Al2O3, the MoO3 performance improved in terms of active phase utilization and stability though molybdenum leaching remained significant. The improvement of catalytic performance was ascribed to the establishment of MoO3-Al2O3 interactions that favored the anchorage of molybdenum to the support and the formation of new strong acidic centers, although this effect was offset by a decrease of specific surface area. It is concluded that the development of stable catalysts based on MoO3 offers an attractive route for the valorization of oils with high FFAs content.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available