Structured Catalyst for Biodiesel Production

Currently, commercial biodiesel is made predominantly using a homogeneous alkaline catalyst. In this process, the biodiesel, as well as the glycerol byproduct, must be purified by removing the homogeneous catalyst, which is an energy and labor-intensive operation and produces a waste solution. Moreover, the glycerol produced from this homogeneous catalyst route is of low quality. This project will develop a novel structured heterogeneous catalyst for high productivity, high efficiency, and low cost biodiesel production in a continuous flow fixed-bed reactor. The structured catalyst will be designed to significantly increase catalyst utilization efficiency and protect the catalyst from deactivation, thereby reducing catalyst cost and further increasing process efficiency. In Phase I, the optimal catalyst design and reaction operating conditions will be determined by testing the catalyst in a pilot-scale fixed-bed reactor system. The biodiesel production cost and throughput under the optimal conditions will be compared with those obtained using the homogeneous catalyst. Commercial Applications and other Benefits as described by the awardee: The new catalyst should lead to the replacement of the low-efficiency homogeneous alkali-catalyzed biodiesel production process that has been in place for more than 20 years. In turn, biodiesel production costs would be reduced, leading to increased biodiesel market demand, reduced pollution, and reduced U.S. dependence on foreign oil.