Efficient Conversion of Oils to Biodiesel Catalyzed by Uncalcined Disodium Metasilicate Granules
Wuttichai Roschat, Mattana Kacha, Boonyawan Yoosuk, Preecha Moonsin, Taweesak Sudyoadsuk and Vinich Promarak* Author for corresponding; e-mail address: roschat1@gmail.com; thaweesak.s@vistec.ac.th
Volume: Vol.45 No.4 (July 2018)
Research Article
DOI:
Received: 9 January 2017, Revised: -, Accepted: 15 June 2017, Published: -
Citation: Roschat W., Kacha M., Yoosuk B., Moonsin P., Sudyoadsuk T. and Promarak V., Efficient Conversion of Oils to Biodiesel Catalyzed by Uncalcined Disodium Metasilicate Granules, Chiang Mai Journal of Science, 2018; 45(4): 1888-1900.
Abstract
An efficient, simple conversion of oils to biodiesel catalyzed by uncalcined disodium metasilicate granules (0.3 mm-1 mm) is reported. Under optimum reaction conditions of catalyst content of 9 wt.%; methanol to oil molar ratio of 9:1; reaction temperature of 65 ºC with a constant stirring of 200 rpm, many types of oils including waste cooking oil can be transesterified with methanol to biodiesel with a fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) yield over 97% in 40 min. The water contamination in oil of less than 4 wt.% has no effect on the activity of the catalyst. The catalyst can be easily removed from the reaction mixture by a simple filtration and can be reused several times with consistent results. The obtained biodiesel without any cleansing shows a high quality product in which fuel properties of the biodiesel congregate all ASTM and EN 14214 standards for biodiesel. Purification process with a cation-exchange resin efficiently removes all soluble ions to obtain high quality biodiesel product. Uncalcined disodium metasilicate granules showed excellent to be used as a low-cost, green, easy and high potential heterogeneous solid catalyst for biodiesel production.