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Thermogravimetric Quantification of Biodiesel Produced via Alkali Catalyzed Transesterification of Soybean oil
Energy and Fuels
  • Priyanka Chand, Iowa State University
  • Ch. Venkat Reddy, Iowa State University
  • John G. Verkade, Iowa State University
  • Tong Wang, Iowa State University
  • David Grewell, Iowa State University
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-19-2009
DOI
10.1021/ef800668u
Abstract

The aim of this study was to demonstrate the use of thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) as a potential screening method for monitoring biodiesel production by transesterification of soybean oil with methanol. Soybean oil and commercially available biodiesel were mixed in varying proportions by weight as standards. In addition, mixtures of different biodiesel/soybean oil ratios were also created by periodically interrupting base-catalyzed transesterification of soybean oil with methanol. The mixtures produced by both approaches were analyzed with TGA over a temperature range of 25−500 °C. The results were then compared with analytical data obtained by proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H NMR spectroscopy), an industry standard for biodiesel quantification. It was found in the TGA experiments that a significant weight loss at ca. 150 °C correlated to the volatilization of biodiesel. The relative weight losses in both sets of mixtures correlated well to the proportion of biodiesel present in the transesterification samples, and the results from both analytical methods were in good agreement (±1.5%). Thus, TGA is a simple, convenient, and economical method for monitoring biodiesel production.

Comments

Posted with permission from Energy & Fuels, 23, no. 2 (2009): 989–992, doi: 10.1021/ef800668u. Copyright 2009 American Chemical Society.

Copyright Owner
American Chemical Society
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Citation Information
Priyanka Chand, Ch. Venkat Reddy, John G. Verkade, Tong Wang, et al.. "Thermogravimetric Quantification of Biodiesel Produced via Alkali Catalyzed Transesterification of Soybean oil" Energy and Fuels Vol. 23 Iss. 2 (2009) p. 989 - 992
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/david_grewell/14/