Zeolites as heterogeneous catalysts for biodiesel production

Abstract

With growing environmental awareness about the negative impacts created by excessive usage of fossil fuels, global interest in finding clean and renewable sources of energy has grown strongly in the last few decades. Biodiesel, obtained from vegetable oils or animal fats, is gaining significant attention as an alternative energy source that can replace petroleum-derived diesel. The development of various heterogeneous catalysts for biodiesel production is growing today to overcome the problems associated with the homogeneous catalysts. The use of Nickel supported on NaY zeolite was tested as an heterogeneous catalyst for biodiesel production. Different samples with different Nickel loadings (5, 10 and 15 wt%) were prepared by impregnation & 2 solvent methods. The catalysts were characterized by a number of techniques, such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), Temperature programmed reduction (TPR) & Transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The transesterification experiments have shown that using atmospheric pressure (reflux) apparatus at 60°C, a reaction time of 4 to 24 hours, and a methanol to oil ratio varying from 9:1 to 40:1 resulted in zero to < 1% biodiesel yield. However, Ni/NaY catalyst was tested for the dry reforming of methane and good results were achieved.