Influence of n -Hexane on in Situ Transesterification of Marine Macroalgae

Angel Sánchez, Rocio Maceiras, Angeles Cancela and Mónica Rodríguez
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Angel Sánchez: Chemical Engineering Department, ETSEI, Rúa Maxwell s/n, University of Vigo, Campus Lagoas-Marcosende, 37210 Vigo, Spain
Rocio Maceiras: Defense University Center, Escuela Naval Militar, Plaza de España 2, 36920 Marín, Spain
Angeles Cancela: Chemical Engineering Department, ETSEI, Rúa Maxwell s/n, University of Vigo, Campus Lagoas-Marcosende, 37210 Vigo, Spain
Mónica Rodríguez: Chemical Engineering Department, ETSEI, Rúa Maxwell s/n, University of Vigo, Campus Lagoas-Marcosende, 37210 Vigo, Spain

Energies, 2012, vol. 5, issue 2, 1-15

Abstract: The purpose of this work is to investigate the influence of n -hexane addition on in situ transesterification of a solid raw material for biodiesel production. Extraction and reaction of macroalgae oil has been performed simultaneously in a batch reactor adding n- hexane with the reactants. In order to analyze the influence of n -hexane on the transesterification, the reaction was also carried out with sunflower oil. The results show that the presence of n -hexane does not have an important effect on the transesterification. It was also observed that this method requires large quantities of methanol to carry out the reaction. The best reaction conditions for in situ transesteri?cation of marine macroalgae were 300:1 methanol-to-oil molar ratio, 1% catalyst concentration, 60 °C reaction temperature and 11 h reaction time, resulting in a methyl esters yield of 17.1%. Thus, biodiesel production from macroalgae by transesterification in situ could be feasible, using hexane for the extraction and eliminating the previous extraction. This integrated method is thus effective and technically attractive.

Keywords: macroalgae; sunflower; in situ transesterification; biodiesel; n -hexane (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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