Catalytic Performance of Bulk and Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>-Supported Molybdenum Oxide for the Production of Biodiesel from Oil with High Free Fatty Acids Content

oleh: Alberto Navajas, Inés Reyero, Elena Jiménez-Barrera, Francisca Romero-Sarria, Jordi Llorca, Luis M. Gandía

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2020-02-01

Deskripsi

Non-edible vegetable oils are characterized by high contents of free fatty acids (FFAs) that prevent from using the conventional basic catalysts for the production of biodiesel. In this work, solid acid catalysts are used for the simultaneous esterification and transesterification with methanol of the FFAs and triglycerides contained in sunflower oil acidified with oleic acid. Molybdenum oxide (MoO<sub>3</sub>), which has been seldom considered as a catalyst for the production of biodiesel, was used in bulk and alumina-supported forms. Results showed that bulk MoO<sub>3</sub> is very active for both transesterification and esterification reactions, but it suffered from severe molybdenum leaching in the reaction medium. When supported on Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>, the MoO<sub>3</sub> performance improved in terms of active phase utilization and stability though molybdenum leaching remained significant. The improvement of catalytic performance was ascribed to the establishment of MoO<sub>3</sub>-Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> interactions that favored the anchorage of molybdenum to the support and the formation of new strong acidic centers, although this effect was offset by a decrease of specific surface area. It is concluded that the development of stable catalysts based on MoO<sub>3</sub> offers an attractive route for the valorization of oils with high FFAs content.