Produção de biodiesel assistida por ultrassom

Abstract

Biodiesel is a biodegradable fuel produced from renewable sources, with a low emission of CO2, SOx and hydrocarbons. However, the cost of biodiesel is very high, which becomes an obstacle to large-scale production. Currently, methods are sought to accelerate the production of biodiesel and reduce its costs, as the case of ultrasonic irradiation. The physical effect of ultrasound is responsible for accelerating the transesterification reaction. As a way of reducing the cost of biodiesel production is also seeking new efficient low cost oily raw materials. A feasible alternative is to use animal fat as raw material. Swine soybean oil and fat have been tested as raw material for biodiesel production, using two methods of agitation, and the conventional ultrasonic. The method used for transformation of the raw material was the basic transesterification. The results indicate that both raw materials are favorable for production of biodiesel. Agitation with the aid of ultrasound showed positive results being obtained biodiesel production equivalent or superior to conventional agitation, with the advantage of reducing the reaction time by half. Based on tests carried out using the fat and ultrasound are feasible for the production of biodiesel and to reduce costs of large-scale production.