Open AccessUsing discarded oyster shells to obtain biodiesel
Author(s) -
Miguelina De la Cruz-De la Cruz,
Patricia De la Cruz Burelo,
Emanuel HernándezNúñez,
Ramón Eduardo Santiago-González,
Cintya Valerio-Cárdenas,
Víctor Manuel Villegas-Cornelio
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
agro productividad
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2594-0252
DOI - 10.32854/agrop.v15i1.2019
Subject(s) - transesterification , biodiesel , catalysis , yield (engineering) , chemistry , biodiesel production , oyster , organic chemistry , nuclear chemistry , pulp and paper industry , food science , materials science , metallurgy , biology , fishery , engineering
Objective: To evaluate the CaO made from oyster shell (C. virginica) as a heterogeneous catalyst in the transesterification of edible vegetable oil used for the production of biodiesel.Design / methodology / approach: A completely randomized experimental design was used, which grouped 3 treatments with 3 repetitions, generating a total of 9 experimental units. The response variable was the performance of the transesterification reaction that was evaluated with 2%, 3% and 4% of CaO obtained from oyster shells. The density, kinematic viscosity, acidity, and conversion efficiency to methyl esters were determined by 1H NMR of the products of each treatment.Results: The treatment with 3% catalyst showed the highest reaction yield (92.2%) compared to the treatments with 2% (86.8%) and 4% catalyst (87.13%). The 1H NMR spectra confirmed the presence of methyl esters in the product of the three treatments. The treatment with 3% and 4% by weight of catalyst presented products with similar characteristics with acceptable values of density, viscosity and acid number in accordance with the ASTM D6751 and EN1421 standards.Study limitations / implications: A concentration of 2% by weight of CaO generates a conversion percentage far from the content of methyl esters established by the ASTM D6751 and EN14214 Standards (> 96.5%).Findings / conclusions: 1H NMR results indicate that the conversion efficiency to methyl esters is positively affected by the amount of catalyst. In the treatments with catalyst loading greater than 2%, the conversion to methyl esters increased significantly to values around 90%.