Description:
IBiodiesel is a non-toxic and biodegradable fuel obtained from renewable sources and is an excellent alternative to fossil fuels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Biodiesel is a mixture of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) obtained from the transesterification reaction of vegetable oils, mainly triglycerides, with methanol in the presence of an acid or basic catalyst, or enzymes (lipase). The transesterification reaction with methanol leads to the formation of FAME and glycerin. The glycerin obtained from the reaction must be removed from the reaction mixture and this requires a procedure that affects the production costs of biodiesel. The treatment of glycerol, which is formed in this process, for the quantities produced today, can find a valid solution only if we focus on its exploitation in the energy sector, bringing further economic advantage to the production chain. The most convenient use is to transform it into fuel additives and, in this context, glycerol tert-butyl ethers are currently among the additives used for both internal combustion and diesel engines. With these premises, the R&D activity of this project aims to industrially validate the contents of the patent PCT/IB2014/058783, concerning the transformation of triglycerides (oils and fats) into a mixture of the corresponding fatty acid methyl esters (biodiesel) and glycerol tert-butyl ethers using commercially available MTBE (Methyl Tert-Butyl Ether) as the sole reagent/solvent. In this context, industrially feasible strategies for the pretreatment of the chosen oil matrices will be developed. The team aims to design and realize a semi-industrial prototype plant, able to reproduce the above transformation process for the production of free glycerol-free biodiesel. The design and subsequent construction of the plant will allow the study and optimization of the optimal operating parameters and the choice of the most performing catalyst, also taking into account energy-economic aspects.
Project Objective:
The aim is to develop a prototype for the pre-industrial validation of the transformation of triglycerides (oils and fats) into a mixture of the corresponding methyl esters of fatty acids (biodiesel) and tert-butyl ethers of glycerol using MTBE (Methyl Tert-Butyl Ether) commercially available as the only reagent/solvent (C. Drago et al., Fuel, 2013, 113, 707; PATENT PCT/IB2014/058783).
Project Coordinator and Involved Staff:
ANTONIO CAMMALLERI (ICSsrl; capofila)
Nicola D’Antona, Carmelo Drago, Mario Foti, Giovanni Gambera, Tommaso Mecca, Raffaele Morrone, Sonia Pedotti, Laura Siracusa
Lead Organization:
ICS srl
Participating Organizations:
ICS srl, TECNOGRAF srl, ISMN-PA (CNR), ICB-CT (CNR)
