Development of a Carbon Catalyzed Process for the Production of Biodiesel Fuels
Open Access
- Author:
- Komandt, Douglas James
- Area of Honors:
- Chemical Engineering
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Joseph Manuel Perez Sr., Thesis Supervisor
Dr. Michael John Janik, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Biodiesel
Charcoal
Transesterification
Methanol
Canola
Water Content - Abstract:
- This investigation aims to investigate the possibility of improving the process of synthesizing biodiesel fuels by the addition of activated charcoal to simplify the product purification processes. With the purification steps comprising a significant amount of biodiesel production time and cost, such a process improvement would have tremendous benefits. Activated charcoal was first identified as a viable additive that could both absorb water and adsorb solids to its surface. Charcoal was the selected as the agent of investigation based on its potential shown in previous research and testing. Various deviations to the standard biodiesel production process by which activated charcoal was added to the reaction mixture were investigated. The resulting products were qualitatively assessed by FTIR, water content, kinematic viscosity, and product percent yield. The results were compared with a biodiesel sample produced by the standard methods to determine the benefits, if any, of using the activated charcoal medium throughout the synthesis process. Using charcoal as an agent to purify synthesized biodiesel was found to be effective, while using charcoal as a component in the reaction mixture was ineffective in improving biodiesel composition. The addition of this solid was found to have negative effects on the product yield and water content of the product when it was added to the mixture during the reaction. However, charcoal was deemed a viable alternative to the standard water wash and water removal purification steps when the charcoal is added to the synthesized biodiesel product. Such uses of charcoal in biodiesel production are recommended for further analysis and cost evaluation, as this study has proven them to be legitimate alternatives.