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Fly ash supported Ni―Fe solid acid catalyst for efficient production of diesel additive: intensification through far‐infrared radiation
Author(s) -
Pradhan Piasy,
Chakraborty Rajat
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
asia‐pacific journal of chemical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.348
H-Index - 35
eISSN - 1932-2143
pISSN - 1932-2135
DOI - 10.1002/apj.1930
Subject(s) - catalysis , nuclear chemistry , chemistry , methanol , ferric , x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , response surface methodology , inorganic chemistry , materials science , chemical engineering , organic chemistry , chromatography , engineering
Novel Ni―Fe solid acid catalyst was prepared through co‐wet impregnation of Fe 2 (SO 4 ) 3 ·H 2 O and Ni (NO 3 ) 2 ·6H 2 O on fly ash (FA) support. XRD, BET‐BJH, SEM‐EDX, XPS and FTIR methods were employed to characterize the catalyst. The excellent catalyst activity was assessed and optimized in the production of methyl oleate (biodiesel/diesel‐additive). The response surface methodology (RSM) computed optimal parametric values pertaining to maximum oleic acid (OA) conversion (98.37 ± 0.01%) were 15:1 methanol/OA molar ratio, 1:15:2 nickel nitrate: ferric sulphate:FA (wt. ratio) and 4 wt.% (of OA) catalyst concentration in 1 h under conventional heating at mild reaction temperature (60 °C). The optimal catalyst possessed 27.64 m 2 /g specific surface area and 0.0233 cc/g pore volume with predominantly mesoporous framework. XPS bands confirmed the presence of Fe 3+ and mixed Ni 2+ /Ni 3+ species rendering an acidity of 5.5 mmol KOH/g. The catalyst comprised of crystalline Fe 2 O 3 , Ni 2 O 3 and NiS phases as revealed from XRD analysis. This study also reports the remarkable intensification of esterification reaction through an energy‐efficient application of far‐infrared radiation protocol (1/3 rd of conventional power requirement) resulting 99.20% OA conversion in only 10 min at the derived optimal conditions. © 2015 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.