Biodiesel production by hydroesterification of microalgal biomass using heterogeneous catalyst

Abstract

This paper assesses the hydroesterification process for the production of Biodiesel from Monoraphidium contortum (MORF-1) microalgae biomass, as it is a sustainable alternative not only economically, but also environmentally and ecologically to replace petroleum diesel fuel. The Biodiesel studied in this work was obtained from fatty acid esterification, a product of microalgae and methanol biomass hydrolysis reaction. CBMM’s (HY-340) niobium oxide powder was used as catalyst. The reactions were carried out in a properly closed autoclave reactor (batch), where the reagents were mixed under constant stirring at 500 rpm for hydrolysis and esterification. The products generated were submitted to gas chromatography and oxidative stability analysis. The hydroesterification process showed itself to be a promising alternative to the conventional biodiesel production process (transesterification) as it favors the use of feedstocks with any acidity and moisture content and may be performed with acid catalyst, which favors high conversions in a small range of time (30 minutes).