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Journal of Applied Sciences

Year: 2010 | Volume: 10 | Issue: 21 | Page No.: 2590-2595
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Authors

W.N.R.W. Isahak

M. Ismail

M.A. Yarmo

J.M. Jahim

J. Salimon

Keywords

Research Article

Purification of Crude Glycerol from Transesterification RBD Palm Oil over Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Catalysts for the Biolubricant Preparation

W.N.R.W. Isahak, M. Ismail, M.A. Yarmo, J.M. Jahim and J. Salimon
Crude glycerol samples used in this study consisted of crude glycerol (CG1) produced from homogeneous catalyst (NaOH) obtained from Golden Hope biodiesel plant and crude glycerol (CG2) as a product of heterogeneous catalysed transesterification RBD palm oil using KOH/Al2O3 catalyst. KOH/Al2O3 catalyst was produced by wet impregnation method and characterized by using BET, XRD and SEM-EDX methods. 15% KOH/ Al2O3 has BET surface area of 26.1 m2 g-1 compared with 100.4 m2 g-1 for fresh Al2O3. The first purification stage of the crude glycerol was achieved by employing the neutralization method followed by microfiltration and ion exchange resins methods. Inorganic salts as a result of the neutralization with 85% v/v phosphoric acid were filtered using syringe filter 0.45 μm. Only glycerol peak could be detected using a Dionex C-18 column in the HPLC indicating that the neutralization step enabled the removal of excess homogeneous catalyst as well as the unreacted free fatty acids in the crude glycerol samples. The free ions from salt and catalyst were then eliminated through ion exchange process using Amberlite resins to produce higher glycerol purity. The samples were also analyzed using FTIR to check on their purity level and to detect any impurity that may still exist. The products of this 3-step purification method were deemed comparable to that of a commercial pure glycerol based on the viscosity, pH value, free fatty acid value, moisture content and density rendering them as competitive feedstock for the biolubricant production.
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