Author(s)

Yuji Ueki, Seiichi Saiki, Takuya Shibata, Hiroyuki Hoshina, Noboru Kasai, Noriaki Seko

Environment and Industrial Materials Research Division, Quantum Beam Science Center, Sector of Nuclear Science Research, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Takasaki, Japan.

Grafted fibrous polymer with quaternary amine groups could function as a highly-efficient catalyst for biodiesel fuel (BDF) production. In this study, the optimization of grafted fibrous polymer (catalyst) and transesterification conditions for the effective BDF production was attempted through a batch-wise transesterification of triglyceride (TG) with ethanol (EtOH) in the presence of a cosolvent. Trimethylamine was the optimal quaternary amine group for the grafted fibrous catalyst. The optimal degree of grafting of the grafted fibrous catalyst was greater than 170%. The optimal transesterification conditions were as follows: The optimal molar quantity of quaternary amine groups, transesterification temperature, molar ratio of TG and EtOH, and primary alkyl alcohol were 0.8 mmol, 80°C, 1:200, and 1-pentanol, respectively. The grafted fibrous catalyst could be applied to BDF production using natural oils. Furthermore, the grafted fibrous catalyst could be used repeatedly after regeneration involving three sequential processes, i.e., organic acid, alkali, and alcohol treatments, without any significant loss of catalytic activity.

Biodiesel Fuel, Triglyceride Transesterification, Radiation-Induced Graft Polymerization, Grafted Polymer, Heterogeneous Basic Catalysis

Ueki, Y. , Saiki, S. , Shibata, T. , Hoshina, H. , Kasai, N. and Seko, N. (2014) Optimization of Grafted Fibrous Polymer as a Solid Basic Catalyst for Biodiesel Fuel Production. International Journal of Organic Chemistry, 4, 91-105. doi: 10.4236/ijoc.2014.42011.