Hydroxyl content and refractive index determinations on transesterified soybean oil

Development and validation of a simple and reliable alternative method for process monitoring and final product quality control during fatty acid ethyl esters production

As the production of biofuels increase, there is an urgent need to easily analytically control their production at the plant level as well as to assess the quality of the final products. Especially method capable of determining fatty acid ethyl ester content of 96.5% is crucial for utilization in praxis. In this work, a refractive index method with required sensitivity was developed and validated by means of a standard reference gas chromatography method. Validation with a considerable set of real unique samples obtained at pilot scale was performed for both purposes - process monitoring at high conversions and final product quality control. The results confirmed a favourable degree of accuracy with a relative deviation lower than 3.5% from the reference value given by the gas chromatography. Moreover, application of the method for quality control of fresh and long-term stored samples revealed that the deterioration of final products during storage can be detected. The developed refractive index method is thus suitable for the simple and rapid evaluation of the quality of produced fatty acid ethyl esters and for analytical monitoring of their production process.

Organic plasmon-emitting diodes for detecting refractive index variation

A photo-excited organic layer on a metal thin film with a corrugated substrate was used to generate surface plasmon grating coupled emissions (SPGCEs). Directional emissions corresponded to the resonant condition of surface plasmon modes on the Au/air interface. In experimental comparisons of the effects of different pitch sizes on the plasmonic band-gap, the obtained SPGCEs were highly directional, with intensity increases as large as 10.38-fold. The FWHM emission spectrum was less than 70 nm. This method is easily applicable to detecting refractive index changes by using SP-coupled fluorophores in which wavelength emissions vary by viewing angle. The measurements and calculations in this study confirmed that the color wavelength of the SPGCE changed from 545.3 nm to 615.4 nm at certain viewing angles, while the concentration of contacting glucose increased from 10 to 40 wt%, which corresponded to a refractive index increase from 1.3484 to 1.3968. The organic plasmon-emitting diode exhibits a wider linearity range and a resolution of the experimental is 1.056 × 10-3 RIU. The sensitivity of the detection limit for naked eye of the experimental is 0.6 wt%. At a certain viewing angle, a large spectral shift is clearly distinguishable by the naked eye unaided by optoelectronic devices. These experimental results confirm the potential applications of the organic plasmon-emitting diodes in a low-cost, integrated, and disposable refractive-index sensor.

Biodiesel transesterification kinetics monitored by pH measurement

Quantification of a pH change that was observed over the course of the transesterification reaction that converts vegetable oil to biodiesel may provide a simple method to monitor the reaction. Transesterification of canola oil at 6:1 methanol to oil ratio with 0.5 wt.% KOH as catalyst was studied at 25, 35, and 45 °C. Reaction conversion was correlated to pH measurements and the results were shown to be in agreement with an independent measure of conversion using an enzymatic assay for glycerol. Rate constants obtained from these measurements are consistent with those in the literature. The measured pH change appears to be related to dilution of OH(-) ions as the oil is converted to products rather than to depletion of OH(-) due to reaction.

Transesterification of soybean oil over WO3 supported on AlPO4 as a solid acid catalyst

WO(3)/AlPO(4) catalysts were prepared by impregnation of AlPO(4) with ammonium metatungstate. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and thermo gravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA) demonstrated that the tungsten compound was incorporated into AlPO(4) forming the catalyst with an enhanced acidity. When transesterification of soybean oil over the catalysts was performed, the catalyst with 30 wt.% WO(3) loading and calcined at 1073 K, exhibited the best catalytic activity with a conversion of 72.5%. The transesterification was optimal at 453 K for 5h with a methanol/oil ratio of 30:1 and catalyst dosage of 5 wt.%. Free fatty acid (FFA) and water did not affect the catalytic activity. The catalyst proved to be stable over four transesterification cycles as it lost only 4% of its activity after being reused four times. The catalyst could be used for the transesterification of low-cost oils for biodiesel production.

Silica-bonded N-propyl sulfamic acid used as a heterogeneous catalyst for transesterification of soybean oil with methanol

The transesterification of soybean oil with methanol was carried out, to produce biodiesel, over silica-bonded N-propyl sulfamic acid in a heterogeneous manner. Results showed that a maximum conversion of 90.5% was achieved using a 1:20 M ratio of soybean oil to methanol and a catalyst amount of 7.5 wt.% at 423 K for 60 h. It was found that the free fatty acid (FFA) and water present in the feedstock had no significant influence on the catalytic activity to the transesterification reaction. Besides, the catalyst also showed activities towards the esterification reaction of FFAs, in terms of the FFA conversion of 95.6% at 423 K for 30 h. Furthermore, the catalyst could be recovered with a better reusability.