Biodiesel, consisting of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs), is a partial replacement to diesel fuel made from vegetable oils and animal fats.<sup> </sup>It has been receiving great attention as safe, biodegradable, renewable and also, can either be used in pure form or in a blend with petroleum fuel in diesel engines. But the most used method, strong base-catalysis with conventional heating and stirring is high energy-consuming. Formation of soap is another inescapable problem in base catalysis. This study aimed to use direct immersion ultrasound at room temperature and shorter reaction time using different solid Lewis acid catalysts and to use Lesquerella oil for the first time in ultrasonic transesterification reaction with methanol. Lesquerella oil is the only hydroxy fatty acids (lesquerolic acid) containing vegetable oil after castor oil reported thus far. The results showed that catalyst loading amount, oil to solvent molar ratio and catalyst type are the most influential factors. Tin (II) chloride and tin (II) acetate showed catalytic activity in transesterification among 19 (nineteen) lewis acid catalysts have been tested. Heterogeneous base catalyst CaO was also used and compared with KOH and NaOH catalysis. Vibra-cell VC505 ultrasonic processor was used as the source of ultrasound. Thin-layer chromatography along with FTIR was used to observe the progress of reaction with time. FAMEs concentration and % conversion of fatty acids were analyzed by gas chromatography and <sup>1</sup>H NMR spectroscopy respectively. Results have important indications that this is a green, energy-efficient and industrially applicable alternative for biofuel production from Lesquerella oil.

Ultrasonic transesterification of lesquerella oil to biofuel over different heterogeneous base and Lewis acid catalysts

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.