Biofuels, especially biodiesel, have become commonplace over the last couple of decades. The transesterification process used for biodiesel production leaves manufacturers with a byproduct, glycerol, that is of low value. Dimethyl carbonate has been studied as an alternate methylating agent to methanol and alters the chemistry such that glycerol is not formed. In our earlier studies, triazabicyclodecene (TBD) was chosen as an intial catalyst due to its ability to easily ionize the dimethyl carbonate and relative ease of separation post reaction. Additional advances have led to the implantation of TBD onto a solid hydrotalcite material via ligand binding to create a truly heterogeneous catalytic scenario. Manipulation of the d-spacing between the hydrotalcite double hydroxide layers made it an excellent support material. We will report on the developments of this novel catalyst (XRD, SEM-EDX, and in situ FTIR/Raman spectroscopies), reaction kinetics, and the chemical process development using Aspen 7.1 simulation software.

Catalytic and process development for glycerol-free biofuel from acylglyceride lipids

244th National Meeting (2012)

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