0000000000147871
AUTHOR
Raffaele Pirone
Interesterification of rapeseed oil catalysed by a low surface area tin (II) oxide heterogeneous catalyst
Abstract The interesterification of rapeseed oil was performed in a batch reactor using for the first time low surface area massive tin(II) oxide as heterogeneous catalyst and methyl acetate as acyl acceptor. The effect of reaction temperature, methyl acetate to oil molar ratio and catalyst loading on the performances of the process were investigated. Yields in fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) and triacetin (TA) up to 90% and 70% respectively, were achieved after 4 h of reaction time at 483 K in the presence of 0.69 mol of SnO per mole of rapeseed oil using a methyl acetate to oil molar ratio of 40. Quite interestingly, the catalyst performances improved when water was added to the reaction…
Valorization of alginate for the production of hydrogen via catalytic aqueous phase reforming
Abstract Alginate, a carbohydrate abundant in the outer cell wall of macroalgae, was subjected to catalytic aqueous phase reforming (APR) to produce hydrogen using a 3% Pt/C commercial catalyst. The performance of the process was evaluated according to the conversion of the carbon to gas, the hydrogen yield and the hydrogen selectivity. The catalyst and feed amount, temperature, reaction time, pH and the presence of H2 were modified to understand the dependence of the outcome of the process on these parameters. The presence of the catalyst was fundamental in order to increase the hydrogen yield compared to the uncatalyzed reaction, and it can be reused without activity loss. In addition, it…