Banca de DEFESA: MARIA ROSIANE DE ALMEIDA ANDRADE

Uma banca de DEFESA de DOUTORADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : MARIA ROSIANE DE ALMEIDA ANDRADE
DATE: 16/09/2022
TIME: 17:00
LOCAL: Videochamada online
TITLE:

Biodiesel: Synthesis, Life Cycle Assessment, and Performance in a Diesel Engine

KEY WORDS:

 Transesterification; eggshells; calcium oxide, surfactant, distillation; consumption; emissions

PAGES: 114
BIG AREA: Engenharias
AREA: Engenharia Química
SUMMARY:

Reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel depletion are among the main reasons for pursuing the development of biofuel technologies. In that sense, biodiesel represents a suitable alternative to fossil fuel since it is renewable, biodegradable, non-toxic, and reduces hydrocarbons, sulfur, carbon monoxide, and polyaromatic hydrocarbons emission. The main production route for biodiesel is the methyl transesterification of triglycerides using a homogeneous base catalyst, such as potassium hydroxide. However, these catalysts produce soap, they are not recovered and reused, and the biodiesel purification process generates a large amount of wastewater. In this sense, studies have been developed to enable the use of heterogeneous catalysts because they produce less waste and can be recovered and reused. One of the most used heterogeneous catalysts is calcium oxide. Therefore, the present work uses calcined chicken eggshells as catalysts for the soybean oil methyl transesterification reaction and nonylphenol ethoxylate surfactants as interfacial tension reducing agents, improving the contact between the phases. To evaluate the environmental impacts caused by biodiesel production, a life cycle assessment (LCA) of the biodiesel synthesis method proposed in this work was performed, using the surfactant and considering the catalyst synthesis step. In addition, a comparative study of the environmental impacts generated with the usual biodiesel production process using potassium hydroxide as homogeneous catalyst was performed. Another aspect evaluated in this work was the distillation of biodiesel, where two fractions were obtained, one with a higher concentration of light esters and another fraction with a higher concentration of heavy esters. The fractions obtained were added to commercial diesel and the new fuels were tested in a diesel engine in order to evaluate the effect of these fractions on combustion and engine performance. The results showed that the use of surfactants reduces the methanol to oil molar ratio and the reaction time. With the addition of 1.5 % surfactant, using a methanol to oil molar ratio of 4:1 and 2 %wt catalyst, it was possible to obtain a conversion over 90 % for a reaction time of 1.5 h.  The LCA showed that biodiesel production using the surfactant is 77% more eco-efficient and has less environmental impact than the usual process using KOH. The addition of the distilled biodiesel and its fractions to the diesel promoted a lower specific consumption as well as an increase in thermal efficiency.  Regarding the emission analyses, there was a reduction up to 35% in carbon monoxide emissions with the addition of biodiesel.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Presidente - 1308273 - EDUARDO LINS DE BARROS NETO
Externa ao Programa - 1415657 - ANDREA OLIVEIRA NUNES - UFRNExterna à Instituição - BRUNA RÊGO DE VASCONCELOS - UDS
Externo à Instituição - FRANCISCO WENDELL BEZERRA LOPES - UDS
Externo à Instituição - JEAN MICHEL LAVOIE - UDS
Externo à Instituição - JOSE MARIANO DA SILVA NETO - UFERSA