Date of Award

2011

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Chemical Engineering

First Advisor

Shahbazi. Abolghasem Dr.

Abstract

In recent few years, biodiesel has become as one of the most potential and efficient renewable energy products to replace petroleum based diesel. Biodiesel is biodegradable, renewable and non-toxic fuel which can be produced from vegetable oils and animal fats by the transesterification reaction. In this study, heterogeneous catalysts were used to catalyze the transesterification reaction. Two solid catalysts were prepared. Calcium on Zeolite Y and sulfated zarconia. Sulfated zarconia was prepared using the solvent free method in which zirconylcholride was mixed with ammonium sulfate. The two powders were grinded for 20 min and settled at room temperature for 18 hours and finally the product was calcined at 600 OC for 5 hours. The product was characterized using BET. The results showed the surface area was 100 m2 /g. Calcium on zeolite Y was prepared using the wetness impregnation method and was calcinated at 600OC for 6 hours. The reaction was conducted on a batch reactor at different temperatures and ran for 1.5 h using both catalysts. Also Calcium on zeolite Y was tested in a packed bed reactor (PBR), Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) was carried out to study the thermal stability of the biodiesel produced from waste cooking oil in a batch operation and a continuous process. It showed that the weight loss for this biodiesel starts at 120oC. A gas chromatography (GC) with a FID detector was used to analyze the conversion efficiency and ester profile in the biodiesel using the EN14103 method with methylheptadecanoate xvi (C17) as an internal standard. The results showed that the conversion efficiency of the transesterification reaction in a batch operation with the Calcium catalyst was 94%., while the conversion using sulfated zarconia was 89 %. The conversion of waste cooking oil in the packed bed reactor was found to be 79.8 %.

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