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Title: Final report on LDRD project : biodiesel production from vegetable oils using slit-channel reactors.

Abstract

This report documents work done for a late-start LDRD project, which was carried out during the last quarter of FY07. The objective of this project was to experimentally explore the feasibility of converting vegetable (e.g., soybean) oils to biodiesel by employing slit-channel reactors and solid catalysts. We first designed and fabricated several slit-channel reactors with varying channel depths, and employed them to investigate the improved performance of slit-channel reactors over traditional batch reactors using a NaOH liquid catalyst. We then evaluated the effectiveness of several solid catalysts, including CaO, ZnO, MgO, ZrO{sub 2}, calcium gluconate, and heteropolyacid or HPA (Cs{sub 2.5}H{sub 0.5}PW{sub 12}O{sub 40}), for catalyzing the soybean oil-to-biodiesel transesterification reaction. We found that the slit-channel reactor performance improves as channel depth decreases, as expected; and the conversion efficiency of a slit-channel reactor is significantly higher when its channel is very shallow. We further confirmed CaO as having the highest catalytic activity among the solid catalysts tested, and we demonstrated for the first time calcium gluconate as a promising solid catalyst for converting soybean oil to biodiesel, based on our preliminary batch-mode conversion experiments.

Authors:
 [1];
  1. FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, Tallahassee, FL
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), Albuquerque, NM, and Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
928823
Report Number(s):
SAND2008-0213
TRN: US200812%%441
DOE Contract Number:  
AC04-94AL85000
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
09 BIOMASS FUELS; BIOFUELS; FEASIBILITY STUDIES; CHEMICAL REACTORS; DESIGN; FABRICATION; CATALYSTS; PERFORMANCE; SOYBEAN OIL; MATERIALS TESTING; ESTERIFICATION; CALCIUM OXIDES; CATALYTIC EFFECTS; CALCIUM COMPOUNDS; Vegetable oils as fuel.; Biodiesel fuels.

Citation Formats

Kalu, E Eric, and Chen, Ken Shuang. Final report on LDRD project : biodiesel production from vegetable oils using slit-channel reactors.. United States: N. p., 2008. Web. doi:10.2172/928823.
Kalu, E Eric, & Chen, Ken Shuang. Final report on LDRD project : biodiesel production from vegetable oils using slit-channel reactors.. United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/928823
Kalu, E Eric, and Chen, Ken Shuang. 2008. "Final report on LDRD project : biodiesel production from vegetable oils using slit-channel reactors.". United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/928823. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/928823.
@article{osti_928823,
title = {Final report on LDRD project : biodiesel production from vegetable oils using slit-channel reactors.},
author = {Kalu, E Eric and Chen, Ken Shuang},
abstractNote = {This report documents work done for a late-start LDRD project, which was carried out during the last quarter of FY07. The objective of this project was to experimentally explore the feasibility of converting vegetable (e.g., soybean) oils to biodiesel by employing slit-channel reactors and solid catalysts. We first designed and fabricated several slit-channel reactors with varying channel depths, and employed them to investigate the improved performance of slit-channel reactors over traditional batch reactors using a NaOH liquid catalyst. We then evaluated the effectiveness of several solid catalysts, including CaO, ZnO, MgO, ZrO{sub 2}, calcium gluconate, and heteropolyacid or HPA (Cs{sub 2.5}H{sub 0.5}PW{sub 12}O{sub 40}), for catalyzing the soybean oil-to-biodiesel transesterification reaction. We found that the slit-channel reactor performance improves as channel depth decreases, as expected; and the conversion efficiency of a slit-channel reactor is significantly higher when its channel is very shallow. We further confirmed CaO as having the highest catalytic activity among the solid catalysts tested, and we demonstrated for the first time calcium gluconate as a promising solid catalyst for converting soybean oil to biodiesel, based on our preliminary batch-mode conversion experiments.},
doi = {10.2172/928823},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/928823}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2008},
month = {Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2008}
}