Kinetics of heterogeneous methanolysis of sunflower and used vegetable oil

Abstract

The synthesis of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME), i.e. biodiesel, in the methanolysis of triglycerides (TG) in the presence of solid catalyst was studied. Heterogeneous catalyst was synthesized by mechanochemical treatment of CaO and ZnO powder mixture with the addition of water required for the formation of corresponding mixed hydroxides, CaZn2(OH)6·2H2O, followed by calcination at 700 °C in air to obtain CaO∙ZnO composite powder. After detailed characterization CaO∙ZnO catalyst was used in methanolysis of refined sunflower as well as used vegetable oil (UVO) in the batch conditions. Influence of temperature, agitation speed, catalyst amount and methanol to oil molar ratio on the rate of reaction was analyzed in order to determine parameters that completely define the rate of methanolysis and indicate the basic resistances on which it depends. It was revealed that the rate of the process depends on the two resistances – mass transfer of triglycerides to the catalyst surface and chemical reaction on the catalyst surface, which are defined as reciprocal value of , the overall triglyceride volumetric mass transfer coefficient and , the effective pseudo-first order reaction rate constant. These kinetic parameters actually determine the value of the apparent reaction rate constant, , which changes with the progression of the methanolysis process, i.e. with the change of triglyceride conversion. The rate of the process is thus described with the simple kinetic model of irreversible pseudo-first order reaction with the variable apparent rate constant, which takes into account both the triglycerides mass transfer and chemical reaction between TG and methanol. The overall volumetric mass transfer coefficient, , was found to depend on interfacial area between the oil and methanol, and can be presented as the function of TG conversion. This assumption is based on the observed effect that when critical conversion of TG is achieved, after formation of small amounts of MG, DG and FAME, the mass transfer rate starts to be higher than the rate of chemical reaction on the catalyst surface. Then the chemical reaction starts to control the overall process rate...

U ovoj disertaciji ispitivana je sinteza metil estara masnih kiselina (MEMK), odnosno biodizela u reakciji metanolize triglicerida (TG) u prisustvu čvrstog katalizatora. Sinteza katalizatora izvršena je mehanohemijskim putem polazeći od CaO i ZnO prahova uz dodatak vode, kako bi se dobio prekursor CaZn2(OH)6·2H2O, koji se ţarenjem na 700 °C prevodi u smešu oksida CaO∙ZnO. Nakon detaljne karakterizacije, CaO∙ZnO katalizator korišćen je u reakciji metanolize rafinisanog suncokretovog i korišćenog biljnog ulja (KBU) koja je izvedena u šarţnim uslovima. U cilju odreĎivanja parametara koji u potpunosti definišu brzinu metanolize i ukazuju na osnovne otpore od kojih ona zavisi, analiziran je uticaj temperature, molarnog odnosa metanol:ulje, mase katalizatora i intenziteta mešanja na brzinu procesa. UtvrĎeno je da brzina procesa zavisi od otpora prenosu mase TG do površine katalizatora i otpora hemijskoj reakciji na površini katalizatora, koji su definisani kao recipročna vrednost ukupnog zapreminskog koeficijenta prenosa mase, , i konstante brzine reakcije pseudo prvog reda, . Ovi kinetički parametri odreĎuju vrednost prividne konstante brzine koja se menja sa napredovanjem procesa metanolize, odnosno sa promenom stepena konverzije TG. Brzina procesa je na taj način opisana kinetičkim modelom nepovratne reakcije prvog reda sa promenljivom prividnom konstantom brzine koja uzima u obzir i prenos mase TG i brzinu hemijske reakcije izmeĎu TG i metanola. UtvrĎeno je da ukupan zapreminski koeficijent prenosa mase, , zavisi od specifične meĎufazne površine, kao i da se moţe predstaviti kao funkcija stepena konverzije TG. Ova pretpostavka se bazira na uočenom efektu da se dostizanjem odreĎene kritične konverzije TG nakon stvaranja prvih količina monoglicerida (MG), diglicerida (DG) i MEMK, brzina prenosa mase znatnije uvećava i postaje veća od brzine hemijske reakcije na površini katalizatora. Tada reakcija na površini katalizatora počinje da kontroliše brzinu ukupnog procesa...