Biodiesel a partir de materias primas ácidas y etanol. Cinética de esterificación e hidrólisis

MARÍA LAURA PISARELLO; MARÍA SOLEDAD ZANUTTINI; CARLOS A. QUERINI

Armação dos Búzios - Rio de Janeiro - Brasil

Congreso; 15to Congreso Brasilero de Catálisis - 5to Congreso de Catálisis del MERCOSUR; 2009

Biodiesel is a fatty acids esters mixture derived from renewable sources such as oils and fats from vegetable or animal origin. Acid raw materials, with high free fatty acids content, and hence low commercial value, can be esterified to produce biodiesel. The reaction is a prior step to the transesterification. This study focuses specifically in the fatty acids esterification reaction, whith ethanol and sulfuric acid as catalyst. Although ethanol is less active than methanol for this reaction, it has advantages with  respect to methanol, on issues such as safety, toxicity, and it also becomes from renewable sources. This work is focused on the kinetic study of the reaction, first using a simplified model for determination of kinetic parameters, and then using them to predict the evolution of reaction with different raw  materials with satisfactory results. On the other hand, a more complex kinetics is established to achieve a better understanding of the real system, including the hydrolysis reaction, verifying its validit