Production of soybean ethanol-based biodiesel using CaO heterogeneous catalysts promoted by Zn, K and Mg

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on the optimization of the production of fatty acid ethyl esters from soybean oil using CaO-based heterogeneous catalysts. Three different catalytic promoters were evaluated: Magnesium, zinc, and potassium. The reaction has evaluated the promoter content (promoter to calcium molar ratio), catalyst load, alcohol to oil molar ratio, and temperature. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to evaluate the influence of each variable on the yield of biodiesel. The addition of K₂O or MgO in the catalyst has enhanced the yield in fatty acid ethyl esters, while the use of ZnO as a promoter was not successful.

KEYWORDS:

• Biodiesel
• soybean oil
• transesterification
• ethyl esters
• heterogeneous catalyst

Additional information

Funding

The authors thank the Brazilian funding institute CNPq for the financial support and for the award of scholarships.