Title of Paper:Calcined sodium silicate as solid base catalyst for biodiesel production

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Date of Publication:2010-03-01

Journal:FUEL PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY

Included Journals:SCIE、EI、Scopus

Volume:91

Issue:3

Page Number:322-328

ISSN No.:0378-3820

Key Words:Transesterification; Biodiesel; Solid base catalyst; Sodium silicate

Abstract:This paper examined the use of calcined sodium silicate as a novel solid base catalyst in the transesterification of soybean oil with methanol. The calcined sodium silicate was characterized by DTA-TG, Hammett indicator method, XRD, SEM, BET, IR and FT-IR. It catalyzed the transesterification of soybean oil to biodiesel with a yield of almost 100% under the following conditions: sodium silicate of 3.0 wt.%, a molar ratio of methanol/oil of 7.5:1, reaction time of 60 min. reaction temperature of 60 degrees C, and stirring rate of 250 rpm. The oil containing 4.0 wt.% water or 2.5 wt.% FFA could also be transesterified by using this catalyst. The catalyst can be reused for at least 5 cycles without loss of activity. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.