Influence of Reaction Time of Direct Transesterification on Biodiesel Production Yield

In situ transesterification was applied for biodiesel production from dry Chlorella sp. biomass. Aim of this study was to achive the optimum reaction time for direct transesterification. In order to investigate the effect of reaction time on biodiesel production efficiency, reactions were carried out for 0.5, 1, 3, 5, 7 and 24 hours. Methanol, hexane and sulfuric acid were used as reaction agents, co-solvent and catalyst respectively. All experiments were conducted using 4 g microalgae, 24 mL methanol, 32 mL hexane, 1.2 mL sulfuric acid, 60 min ultrasonic and 70 oC. The results showed that yield of biodiesel production increased significantly within the first one hour, but it almost remained unchanged after 1 h.

Keywords:

Microalgae , Biodiesel , In situ transesterification