Mesoporous silica-supported catalysts for the production of biodiesel from high free fatty acid-containing feedstocks

INOR 162

Nicholas A. Zafiropoulos, nzafirop@email.unc.edu1, Helen L. Ngo, helen.ngo@ars.usda.gov2, Edward T. Samulski, et@unc.edu1, Thomas A. Foglia, tfoglia@errc.ars.usda.gov2, and Wenbin Lin, wlin@unc.edu1. (1) Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, (2) Fats, Oils and Animal Coproducts Research Unit, Eastern Regional Research Center, ARS, USDA, 600 E. Mermaid Lane, Wyndmoor, PA 19038
Biodiesel is mostly produced by alkali-catalyzed transesterification of an oil or fat. The majority of the cost for biodiesel production comes from that of the feedstock. High fatty acid-containing feedstocks such as yellow and brown greases are readily available, inexpensive, and renewable resources and hence are attractive feedstocks for the production of biodiesel. The high free fatty acid (FFA) content of these feedstocks, however, makes it difficult to produce biodiesel using base-catalyzed transesterification processes. We have demonstrated that mesoporous silica-supported diarylammonium catalysts are effective in esterifying the FFA present in greases (12 - 40 wt%) to their methyl esters in nearly quantitative yields. These immobilized catalysts could be readily recycled and re-used. The resulting ester-glyceride mixture could then be readily converted to esters by base-catalyzed transesterification.
 

Applications of Materials
7:00 PM-10:00 PM, Sunday, August 19, 2007 BCEC -- Exhibit Hall - B2, Poster

Division of Inorganic Chemistry

The 234th ACS National Meeting, Boston, MA, August 19-23, 2007