Open AccessK2CO3 in NH4OH as an Effective Catalyst Mixture for the Transesterification of High Acid Value Mahua Oil
Author(s) -
S. Swarna,
M. T. Swamy,
T. R. Divakara,
Ketan Krishnamurthy,
S. Shashidhar,
H. V. Srikanth
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
asian journal of chemistry/asian journal of chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.145
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 0975-427X
pISSN - 0970-7077
DOI - 10.14233/ajchem.2021.23395
Subject(s) - transesterification , chemistry , biodiesel , methanol , catalysis , dimethyl carbonate , acid value , fatty acid methyl ester , biodiesel production , organic chemistry , nuclear chemistry , yield (engineering) , ammonium carbonate , soybean oil , food science , materials science , biochemistry , metallurgy
In present study, biodiesel was synthesized from high free fatty acid content Mahua oil using K2CO3in NH4OH catalyst mixture through transesterification process. Addition of NH4OH to K2CO3, enhancedthe basic strength of the catalyst (K2CO3) by generating in-situ KOH in ammonium carbonate medium.The presence of ammonium carbonate in the reaction medium controlled the generation of intermediatewater during methoxide formation and thereby increased the biodiesel yield. The maximum yield of98.5% with a fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) content of 98.95% was obtained at the optimized conditionof catalyst mixture of 1g K2CO3 in 0.5 g of NH4OH, oil to methanol molar ratio 1:7 at 55 ºC in 75 min.Characterization of the obtained biodiesel has been carried out using GC-MS and 1H NMR techniques.The physico-chemical properties of the oil and the synthesized biodiesel were tested according to theASTM D6751 standards and the values are within the range.