Title
Macauba oil as an alternative feedstock for biodiesel: Characterization and ester conversion by the supercritical method
Date Issued
01 January 2014
Access level
metadata only access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Gonzalez S.L.
Irigaray B.
Vieitez I.
Jachmanián I.
Hense H.
Oliveira J.V.
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
Publisher(s)
Elsevier
Abstract
In this work different samples of Brazilian macauba oil obtained from mechanical pressing were characterized and production of esters of fatty acids using a catalyst-free continuous process under supercritical alcohols was assessed. Analysis of oil samples showed that the major fatty acid on pulp oil was oleic acid (mean value 62.8%), the amount of free fatty acid (FFA) was very high (37.4-65.4%), samples contained glycerides (7.4-16.5% TAG, 14.2-16.8% DAG and 1.0-3.4% MAG) and moisture was around 1.0%. Oil was processed in a continuous reactor using supercritical methanol or ethanol and the effects of temperature (573, 598, 623 and 648 K), pressure (10, 15 and 20 MPa), oil to alcohol molar ratio (1:20, 1:30 and 1:40), water concentration (0, 5 and 10 wt% added) and the flow rate of reaction mixture (1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 mL/min) on process efficiency were evaluated. The highest ester content achieved in reactions with supercritical methanol was 78.5% (648 K, 15 MPa, 1:30 oil:methanol molar ratio, 5 wt% water and 2.5 mL/min flow rate), while with supercritical ethanol was 69.6% (598 K, 15 MPa, 1:30 oil:ethanol molar ratio, 5 wt% water and 2.0 mL/min flow rate). The extent of the reaction was explored using a novel parameter, convertibility, which corresponds to the maximum ester content attainable from the feedstock. According to the convertibility of macauba pulp oil, the highest ester content corresponded to efficiencies of 98.0% and 86.9%, respectively. Results demonstrate that macauba oil might be a potential alternative for biodiesel production, though purification steps should be taken into account to achieve biodiesel specifications.
Start page
130
End page
137
Volume
93
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Tecnologías de bioprocesamiento, Biocatálisis, Fermentación Ingeniería del Petróleo, (combustibles, aceites), Energía, Combustibles
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-84908674205
Source
Journal of Supercritical Fluids
ISSN of the container
08968446
Sponsor(s)
Departamento de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas, Universidad de Santiago de Chile. Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico. The authors thank CNPq and DICyT for the financial support of this work and scholarships.
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus