"Produção e caracterização de biodieseis obtidos a partir da oleaginosa macaúba (Acrocomia aculeata)"

Abstract

The oleaginosa Macauba (Acrocomia aculeata) stands out as a feedstock for biodiesel production because it is a non-edible oil and so does not compromise the oils that are used in human food. The fruit of Macauba consists of two oil sources : the mesocarp / flesh and almonds, two sources that have high oil content, which can be used to produce biodiesel. In this work, it was previously to analyze the physical chemical properties of raw crude, and from there, was made choice of a catalyst to be performed. For the transesterification reaction was used alcohols: methanol and ethanol in the presence of catalysts: acid and basic. When comparing the chemical and physical characteristics of the oils Macauba, it was observed that the oil of almonds has better features than the mesocarp oil, the same was evident when comparing their biodieseis. These facts can be attributed to the presence of ligneous endocarp that surrounds the kernel performs the function of protection against degradation processes. The best features of almond oil are also reflected in its cost of buying which is three times larger than the mesocarp oil. In order to take advantage of the raw material of lesser value, we analyzed the reaction conditions to obtain the maximum yield of biodiesel from oil Macauba the mesocarp, the route was evaluated with methyl acid catalysts due to high levels of free fatty acids oil contained in the mesocarp. The variables studied were: the mass ratio of methanol: oil, temperature, type of acid catalyst (HCl and H2SO4) and reaction time. The maximum yield was close to 98.0%, obtained with 1% H2SO4 catalyst at a temperature of around 74.0 °C and mass ratio methanol: oil equal to 7,6:1.