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Rice husk ash as a catalyst precursor for biodiesel production

2013; Elsevier BV; Volume: 44; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.jtice.2013.01.006

1876-1089

Kung-Tung Chen, Jianxun Wang, Yong‐Ming Dai, Po‐Hsiang Wang, Cyong-Ying Liou, Chia-Wei Nien, Jhong-Syuan Wu, Chiing‐Chang Chen,

Lubricants and Their Additives

The transesterification of soybean oil with methanol was carried out in the presence of Li-modified rice husk ash catalyst at atmospheric pressure. The catalyst was prepared using a simple solid-state reaction, mixing, and well grinding 1.00 g RHA with 1.23 g Li2CO3 calcined at 900 °C in air for 4 h. The catalysts were characterized using XRD, SEM, FTIR, TGA-DTA, and the Hammett indicator. The XRD peaks were mainly consistent with Li2SiO3. The catalyst was highly active because its basic strength (H_) exceeded 15.0. The catalyst was also air-insensitive, as only a few CO32− anions formed on the surface of catalyst after exposure to air for 72 h, and no obvious LiOH formed on the catalyst surface. Under the optimal reaction conditions of a methanol/oil molar ratio of 24:1, a 4% catalyst amount, and a reaction temperature of 65 °C for 3 h, this approach achieved 99.5% conversion to biodiesel.