Thesis Archive
Microwave-assisted Glycerolysis of Neem Oil (2016-2017)
John Michael Cavarlez
Isabela del Mundo
Anna Monica Pe
Abstract:
-“Biodiesel has been considered as a viable alternative to diesel fuels since it is a renewable energy source and is more eco-friendly. Edible oils account for the majority of the feedstock oils used in biodiesel production since their free fatty acid (FFA) levels are below 1%. However, these oils are expensive and compete with food demand. Low-cost feedstock oils would be more efficient to reduce production cost but these oils have high FFA content. A pre-treatment process (glycerolysis) should be performed to reduce its FFA content. Conventional glycerolysis has slow reaction rates and requires long reaction times. Microwave irradiation is then used to speed up the process. Neem oil, which has an FFA content of 1.138%, was investigated in this study to determine the effect of microwave irradiation on different factors that would affect the reduction of the FFA content and to determine if Neem oil is a viable biodiesel feedstock oil. The following factors are investigated: reaction time (5 and 9 minutes), reaction temperature (100oC and 120oC), oil to glycerol molar ratio (1:1 to 1:2) and sulfuric acid catalyst loading (2% and 4.5%). This study shows that the oil to glycerol molar ratio, catalyst loading and reaction time has minimal to no effect on the FFA content reduction of the oil. However, the reaction temperature of the process was significant on the FFA content reduction. A higher temperature resulted in a higher FFA content reduction. The optimum factors achieved are as follows: 1:1 oil to glycerol molar ratio, a catalyst loading of 2%, a time of 5.58 minutes and a reaction temperature of 120oC resulting to a 91.81% FFA reduction. “
Adviser:
Dr. Susan Roces