2010 年 89 巻 6 号 p. 562-566
This was a study to pursue new sustainable sources of power in Malawi and other developing countries of Sub-Saharan Africa by investigating a novel approach for biodiesel production via ethanolysis of pretreated oil feedstock with calcium hydroxide using thermal pretreatment with glycerol. 0.5 g of Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) oil feedstock premixed with glycerol and Ca(OH)2 was thermally pretreated at 100 °C and stirred at 1000 rpm for 1-3 h. The triglycerides (TG) decomposed into diglycerides (DG) and monoglycerides (MG), which are reactive intermediates of the ethanolysis. This effect of pretreatment was investigated in comparison with the effect of other catalyst. Then, the pretreated oil was reacted under the following conditions: 100 °C, 12-to-1 ethanol (EtOH)-to-oil molar ratio, stirring at 1000 rpm, catalyst load of 2 wt%, time from 0.5-2 h. Thermal pretreatment with glycerol achieved a significant fatty acid ethyl ester (FAEE) yield of 76 wt% (comparable to the yields obtained with calcium oxide (h-CaO) and surface-modified calcium oxide (s-CaO)). In tests on the reuse of the Ca(OH)2 catalyst in repeated reactions, the yield did not decrease sharply with repetitive use. Given that all of the materials tested in our experiments are available renewably in Sub-Saharan Africa, we believe that biodiesel production via ethanolysis has the potential to provide a sustainable source of power in that region.
