화학공학소재연구정보센터
홈 로그인 로그아웃 연락처 사이트맵
Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, Vol.46, 266-272, February, 2017
DOI10.1016/j.jiec.2016.10.038  Export Citation
Synthesis of potassium glyceroxide catalyst for sustainable green fuel (biodiesel) production
Subhalaxmi Pradhan1, 2, Jianheng Shen1, 3, Shahram Emami1, 3, Pravakar Mohanty4, 5, †, S.N. Naik2, Ajay K. Dalai5, and Martin J.T. Reaney1, 6, †
  • 1Department of Plant Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5A8, Canada
  • 2Centre for Rural Development and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016, India
  • 3, Canada
  • 4Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016, India
  • 5Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5A9, Canada
  • 6Guangdong Saskatchewan Oilseed Joint Laboratory, Department of Food Science and Engineering, Jinan University, 601 Huangpu Avenue West, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510632, China
E-mail:,
Metal hydroxides and alkoxides are used as base catalysts for biodiesel production. When metal hydroxides are dissolved in alcohol, they produce water, which can react with triglycerides (TGs) and produce free fatty acids (FFAs) rather than the desired fatty acid alkyl esters. Metal alkoxides are more expensive to produce and their transportation is hazardous. In this study, potassium alkoxide catalysts were synthesized from potassium hydroxide (KOH) solution and glycerol, which is by-product of biodiesel production process, by heating 50% KOH solution and glycerol at different mole ratios, temperatures and vacuum pressures. These operating parameters were optimized and their interactive effect on catalyst synthesis was studied by using response surface methodology (RSM). This study also focused on the development of a correlation relating the effects of these variables with drying behavior of reagents during catalyst synthesis. The results indicated that KOH to glycerol mole ratio and vacuum pressure had the most significant effects (P < 0.0001) on free water mass loss during catalyst synthesis. The optimum reaction condition was KOH to glycerol mole ratio of 2:1, reaction temperature 130 °C and vacuum pressure 113 mbar. X-ray powder diffraction showed that glycerol derived alkoxide compounds were predominantly monopotassium substituted alkoxides that occur as adducts with potassium hydroxide. The glyceroxide catalyst prepared at 3:1 mole ratio of KOH:glycerol has improved biodiesel yield to that of conventional potassium methoxide (KOCH3) catalyst.
Keywords:Potassium hydroxide;Glycerol;Potassium glyceroxide;Response surface methodology;Biodiesel
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