The influence of PO4 to Bio-silica catalyst on Synthesis Benign Additive Fuel

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute

2 Analysis and Evaluation Division, Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute, Nasr City, PO Box 11727, Cairo, Egypt.

Abstract

Fuel additive solketal can be produced through acetalization reaction of biodiesel by-product (glycerol) and acetone. This reaction was conducted over acidified silica derived from sustainable bioresource rice husk in a batch reactor under the solvent-free condition. The chemical and structural properties of the prepared catalyst were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), N2 adsorption/desorption isotherms, temperature-programmed desorption of ammonia (NH3-TPD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Based on this paper, the optimized conditions using 15% phosphoric acid acidified silica extracted from rice husk ash (10 wt.% PO4 loaded SiO2) are 50 °C (lower temperature) with the molar ratio of acetone: glycerol= 2. Reusability test used to examine the stability of the catalytic activity was investigated. This effort is a serious step for development and taking apart of solketal as the main product from glycerol and acetone by using waste resources.

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