Biodiesel Production via Homogeneous Route (KOH) and Heterogeneous Route (K2O/Nb2O5) Federal University of Lavras, Department of Engineering

Format:

Book

Conference/Event

Author/Creator:

Coelho, Gabriella Vilela, author.

Contributor:

Alvarez, Carlos Eduardo Castilla

Ribeiro, Jessica Oliveira Notório

Conference Name:

SAE Brasil 2025 Congress (2025-10-07 : Sao Paolo, Brazil)

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource cm

Place of Publication:

Warrendale, PA SAE International 2025

Summary:

Biodiesel, a renewable biofuel obtained from vegetable oils or animal fats, has emerged as a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels. This fuel has stood out for its ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, helping to mitigate environmental impacts. Biodiesel is produced by reacting oil with an alcohol in the presence of a catalyst, which can be homogeneous or heterogeneous. Heterogeneous catalysis has advantages such as ease of separation, greater tolerance to oils with a high fatty acid content and the possibility of reusing the catalyst, which reduces costs and minimizes waste generation. Among the various heterogeneous catalysts available, niobium-based compounds stand out. The use of niobium-based catalysts is advantageous due to the vast reserves of this element in Brazil, guaranteeing autonomy in production and strengthening the national biofuels industry. This work investigated the production of biodiesel from soybean oil using the homogeneous and heterogeneous transesterification routes. The homogeneous route used 0.7% KOH dissolved in methanol, operating at 60 °C for 1 hour with a methanol:oil molar ratio of 6:1. The heterogeneous route used a solid K2O catalyst supported on Nb2O5, in a ratio of 4% by mass, with a molar ratio of 10:1 and a reaction time of 4 hours. The yield obtained was 85% for the homogeneous route and 90% for the heterogeneous route. The biodiesel from the homogeneous route had a slightly basic pH, requiring neutralization with hydrochloric acid, while the product from the heterogeneous route had a neutral pH, requiring no additional treatment. The results indicate that although the homogeneous route is faster and uses less catalyst, the heterogeneous route has advantages in terms of yield and quality of the final product, as well as less environmental impact. Heterogeneous catalysts such as K2O/Nb2O5 are therefore promising for the sustainable production of biodiesel

Notes:

Vendor supplied data

Publisher Number:

2025-36-0116

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license