Effect of reaction parameters on the catalytic transesterification of cottonseed oil using silica sulfuric acid

摘要

Transesterification of refined cottonseed oil was studied in the presence of silica sulfuric acid as a new heterogeneous solid acid catalyst to overcome the drawbacks of homogeneous alkali and acid catalysts. The effect of various reaction parameters, such as oil to methanol ratio, reaction temperature, reaction time, and catalyst amount, was investigated. The highest methyl ester conversion was obtained at 373 K using 5% catalyst amount and 1: 20 methanol ratio within 8 h. Silica sulfuric acid was found to be a promising catalyst for cleaner biodiesel production without tedious post treatments for the product purification.