Abstract
A high free fatty acid (FFA) containing Jatropha curcas L. oil (JCO) was used for biodiesel production using Musa balbisiana Colla underground stem (MBCUS) ash catalyst, in a high pressure–high temperature (HT) reactor. The composition of the MBCUS catalyst was ascertained using XRF analysis and found that the ash obtained at 550 °C contain about 36 % silica (SiO2), 25 % potassium oxide (K2O), 10 % each of lime (CaO) and magnesia (MgO) and 4 % each of phosphorous pentoxide (P2O5) and alumina (Al2O3) as the major component for catalytic activation. The catalyst was characterized by SEM–EDX image analysis and found that the composition of the catalyst is versatile and consist of several alkali and alkaline earth metal chlorides, oxides, carbonate and silica. The BET surface area was found to be about 39 m2/g. The catalyst was further calcined in a TGA and observed that a maximum of 10 % losses were possible at 991 °C. The catalyst structure was further characterized from TEM images and found that the structural dimensions are identical (less than 100 nm length) and brick like (70 nm × 20 nm × 15 nm). The catalyst was found very effective during transesterification under HT (275 °C) and internal pressure (4.2 MPa) and 98.0 % fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) could be obtained from JCO with an initial acid value (AV) 18.4 mg KOH/g. There was a drastic reduction of FFA (AV 3.4 mg KOH/g) in the FAME obtained. The reduction of FFA may be attributed to the HT and high internal vapour pressure of the reaction mixture that resulted conversion of FFA to FAME and water. The fuel properties of the FAME were analysed as per ASTM and EN-standards.
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Acknowledgments
The authors express their sincere thanks to Professor V. K. Rattan, Department of Chemical Engineering, Punjab University for his help in getting the BET surface area and XRD pattern done at his University. The authors are also grateful to the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) Faridabad, India for providing the facility for some of the quality tests of biodiesel in their laboratory. Finally, the authors acknowledge the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India, New Delhi for financial assistance in the form of Project Grants (F No. 7/144/2009-NT dated 1 October 2010 and 7/152/2010-BF date 13 September 2011).
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Sarma, A.K., Kumar, P., Aslam, M. et al. Preparation and Characterization of Musa balbisiana Colla Underground Stem Nano-material for Biodiesel Production Under Elevated Conditions. Catal Lett 144, 1344–1353 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10562-014-1206-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10562-014-1206-8