Characterization of calcium oxide catalysts from natural sources and their application in the transesterification of sunflower oil.
The catalytic activities of calcium oxide obtained from natural sources (crab shell and eggshell) were characterized and evaluated in the transesterification of vegetable oil. These catalysts are mainly composed of calcium carbonate, which is partially converted into CaO after calcination (900°C for 2h). The catalysts have some advantages, such as abundant occurrence, low cost, porous structure, and nontoxic. The materials were characterized by XRD, FTIR, TG/DTG, CO2-TPD, XPS, SEM, and BET methods. The thermal treatment produces small particles of CaCO3 and CaO that are responsible for the catalytic activity. The conversion from triglycerides to methyl ester was not observed in transesterification carried out using natural crab shell and eggshell. Under optimized reaction conditions, the conversions to YFAME using the calcined catalysts were: crab shell (83.10±0.27 wt.%) and eggshell (97.75±0.02 wt.%). These results, showed that these materials have promising viability in transesterification for biodiesel production.
Grupo de Pesquisa em Separações por Adsorção (GPSA), Departamento de Engenharia Química, Universidade Federal do Ceará - UFC, Campus do Pici, Bl. 709, 60455-760 Fortaleza-CE, Brazil.
Leandro Marques
LM
Correia
Rosana Maria Alves
RM
Saboya
Natália de Sousa
Nde S
Campelo
Juan Antonio
JA
Cecilia
Enrique
E
Rodríguez-Castellón
Célio Loureiro
CL
Cavalcante
Rodrigo Silveira
RS
Vieira
D000818:Animals; D017610:Calcium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000032:analysis; D002384:Catalysis; D004528:Egg Shell / Q000648:ultrastructure; D004951:Esterification; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000032:analysis; D010087:Oxides / Q000737:chemistry*; D056951:Photoelectron Spectroscopy; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000737:chemistry*; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D000074242:Sunflower Oil; D013816:Thermodynamics; D013818:Thermogravimetry; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
D017610:Calcium Compounds; D005227:Fatty Acids; D010087:Oxides; D010938:Plant Oils; D000074242:Sunflower Oil; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; C016538:lime
Biodiesel; Calcium oxide; Crab shell; Eggshell