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Biodiesel production from beef tallow

Poster · July 2017

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.25940.09601

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Marta Ramos Mónica Catarino

Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa Technical University of Lisbon
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A. P. Soares Dias
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 Biodiesel production from beef tallow
Marta Ramos a,b, Mónica Catarino b, Ana Paula Soares Dias b
ISEL – Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
a
b IDMEC, IST – Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal

Introduction
Biodiesel, a mixture of fatty alkyl esters, is a renewable substitute for fossil fuels. Currently, biodiesel is produced by methanolysis of vegetable oils using
homogeneous basic catalysis. Vegetable oils are expensive and raise sustainability issues due to the use of arable lands, which may be used to food crops
production.
In order to improve the biodiesel sustainability and reduce the production costs, biodiesel was produced from beef tallow and 50 % (W/W) beef
tallow/soybean oil mixture using a scallop shells based calcium catalyst. Also, for comparison, the methanolysis of the soybean oil was carried out under the
same conditions.
Experimental
Rendering Process Catalytic tests Products

beef
tallow biodiesel

+ catalyst +
biodiesel
Ca soap (50 % beef tallow)
glycerin glycerin
methanol
tallow

The beef tallow was obtained from waste bovine tissues by boiling water rendering. The methanolysis tests were carried out for 2.5 h, at methanol reflux
temperature using 5 % Wcat/Wfat of catalyst and methanol/fat = 12 molar ratio. After 2.5 h the reaction mixture was removed from the reactor and filtrated to
remove the solid catalyst. The formed glycerin was separated by decantation. Both oily and glycerin phases were characterized by ATR-FTIR. The fresh and post
reaction catalysts were characterized by XRD.
Results

Figure 3 – ATR-FTIR spectra of glycerin phases (1480-1410 cm-1

correspond to MONG).

Figure 1 – FAME yield (%) assessed by ATR-FTIR.

Figure 2 – XRD of fresh and post reaction (PR) catalysts.

Conclusions
✓ The biodiesel from beef tallow was successfully produced using basic heterogeneous Ca catalyst.

✓ These type of catalyst are also efficient in the production of biodiesel by oil methanolysis.

✓ The prepared catalyst presented XRD features belonging to calcite mixed with a minor amount of lime. The XRD patterns of the post reaction
catalysts depends on the fat. As expected, the use of beef tallow promote the amorphization.

✓ The glycerin produced from beef tallow has a higher quality, since the contamination with MONG is lower than that produced from soybean oil. The
quality increase of glycerin produced from lard is also reported by M. Catarino (Master Thesis, 2017).

✓ The high acidity and water content of tallow was responsible for soap formation during methanolysis over alkaline catalyst, and consequent decay of
the FAME yield.

✓ The co-processing of beef tallow with soybean oil minimized the soap formation and catalyst deactivation.

References Acknowledgments
I. B. Banković-Ilić, et al., Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 32 (2014) 238–254 F.C.T. for funding support, scientific project n.º PTDC/EMS-ENE/4865/2014.
P. Adewale, M. Dumont, M. Ngadi, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 45 (2015) 574–588
J. M. Encinar, et al., Bioresource Technology 102 (2011) 10907–10914
A.P.S. Dias, et al., Renewable Energy 99 (2016) 622-630
M. Catarino,“Prdução de biodiesel a partir de óleos usados e gordura de origem animal”, Master`s Thesis, IST (2017)

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