STTR Phase I: Low-Cost Biodiesel Production via Novel Esterification and Transesterification Catalysts

该小型企业技术转让研究 (STTR) 第一阶段项目开发了使用新型酯化和酯交换催化剂的方法，以降低生物柴油的生产成本，而生物柴油的生产成本已成为扩大生物柴油使用的关键瓶颈。 目前，生物柴油是通过酯交换催化工艺生产的，所使用的催化剂对水和游离脂肪酸（FFA）敏感。 因此，生物柴油生产商必须购买昂贵的设备来去除原料中的水和游离脂肪酸，从而降低了生物柴油生产的产量。 这项研究开发了一种新型酯交换催化剂，可以耐受水、FFA 和第二种酯化催化剂，可将不需要的 FFA 直接转化为生物柴油。 这项工作更广泛的影响是：（1）由于提高了产量并采用大批量、连续生产生物柴油，从而降低了生物柴油的生产成本； (2) 可能扩大生物柴油原料的选择范围，以允许使用更便宜的非食用动物脂肪和回收食用油，所有这些都含有大量的 FFA； （3）最后，使生物柴油得到更广泛的使用，以减少我们对原油进口的依赖，支持当地农业经济，并为不可再生化石燃料能源提供更环保的替代品。

This Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) Phase I project develops methods for the use of novel esterification and transesterification catalysts to cut the cost of biodiesel production which have become a critical bottleneck for greater biodiesel use. At the current time, biodiesel is produced through a transesterification catalytic process and the catalyst employed is sensitive to water and free fatty acids (FFA). As a consequence, biodiesel producers have to purchase expensive equipments to remove water and FFA from the feedstocks which lowers the yields of biodiesel production. This research develops a novel transesterification catalyst that can tolerate water, FFA and a second esterification catalyst to directly convert unwanted FFA into biodiesel. The broader impacts of this work are: (1) cutting the cost of biodiesel production due to improved production yields and the adoption of high-volume, continuous production of biodiesel; (2) potentially expanding the range of biodiesel feedstock selections to allow much cheaper inedible animal fats and recycled cooking oils, all of which contain significant amounts of FFA; and (3) finally, enabling the wider use of biodiesel to reduce our reliance on crude oil imports, support local agricultural economies, and provide a more environmentally friendly alternative to non-renewable fossil-fuel energy sources.