Comparison of oil feedstocks for biodiesel (B100) production: Processing parameters and fuel properties

CHED 799

Micah Sampson, npaiva@sosu.edu1, Justin Dodds1, Joshua Brown1, Ricardo Lemus1, Jimmy Stephens2, Ron Workman2, Miguel J. Dabdoub, migjodab@usp.br3, and Nancy L. Paiva, nlpaiva@alum.mit.edu1. (1) Department of Chemistry, Computer & Physical Sciences, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, 1405 N. 4th Ave. PMB 4215, Durant, OK 74701, (2) Earth Biofuels Inc, Durant, OK 74701, (3) Department of Chemistry, University of São Paulo, Av. Bandeirantes, 3900, 14040-901- Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
Biodiesel is produced via a transesterification process that transforms triacylglycerides in vegetable and animal oils into fatty acid methyl esters (FAME mixtures, or B100 biodiesel), lowering the viscosity of the fuel and providing other properties closer to those of petrodiesel. Theoretically, any triacylglyceride source can be used to generate biodiesel, but fatty acid compositions of the oils and natural contaminants vary widely, and could potentially impact both biodiesel fuel properties and process economics. This project initially compared conversion of several commercially available oils into biodiesel under lab conditions mimicking parameters used at a commercial, continuous-style production facility. Fuel properties and processing data for soy, corn, canola, safflower, sunflower, palm kernel and peanut oils will be presented. The cloud points and flash points of biodiesel samples were well correlated with the chain lengths and unsaturation of FAME components. (Funded by OCAST R&D Internship Award AP071-i19 and NASA Oklahoma Space Grant Consortium.)
 

Undergraduate Research Poster Session: Biochemistry
2:00 PM-4:00 PM, Monday, April 7, 2008 Morial Convention Center -- Hall A, Poster

Division of Chemical Education

The 235th ACS National Meeting, New Orleans, LA, April 6-10, 2008