Avaliação do processo de produção de biodiesel etílico em banho ultrassônico utilizando cossolvente

Abstract

By encouraging the production of fuels from renewable sources, biodiesel has a great potential for growth in the market. Currently, the most used process to obtain it is transesterification, which consists of the reaction between a triglyceride and an alcohol, in the presence of a catalyst. However, due to the lack of miscibility between the reagents, extra resources are used to conduct the process, in order to obtain satisfactory conversions and the reduction of energy resources. Ultrasound is used to lower this barrier, as it can increase the reaction rate, just like the cosolvents. In this way, the study of biodiesel production was carried out through ethyl transesterification catalyzed by potassium hydroxide, applying soybean oil, varying the percentage of biodiesel disposed as a cosolvent and the reaction time, using an ultrasonic bath, in order to obtain the parameters for optimizing the final conversion. First, the production of biodiesel without cosolvent was carried out, used as a cosolvent in the next step, where eleven tests were carried out following the star experimental design, having as independent variables the percentage of cosolvent and the reaction time, obtaining as a variable response the conversion. In addition, all samples produced were characterized and evaluated regarding their visual appearance, specific mass and acidity index. It can be observed that the application of the cosolvent achieved conversions similar to those samples produced without cosolvent with a lower reaction time, since statistically, there is no significant connection of the variables in the response within the studied interval. However, when de data is analyzing separately, it is notable that the application of biodiesel as a cosolvent can help in the optimization of the process, favoring the reduction of the reaction time, which can generate an increase in productivity and also reduce energy costs.