The University of North Carolina at Pembroke is located in an economically depressed yet agriculturally rich region of eastern North Carolina. Local farmers would benefit from the savings and independence gained by the ability to grow their own fuel stock crops during the off-season to be used to produce biodiesel for farming equipment and vehicles.  This project is part of a larger one, which aims to design a bench-top prototype for a cost-effective biodiesel reactor using a variety of fuel stock.  Optimization of conditions for the production of biodiesel from oil and methanol in the presence of the basic phase-transfer catalyst tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) were determined.  This process has been found to be highly successful, with near 100% conversion rates at reflux in less than two hours.

TMAH-catalyzed biodiesel production for greater energy independence

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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