August A. Gallo
University of Louisiana at Lafayette, USA
Title: Title: Biodiesel from Alligator Fat using Supercritical Methanol via a Laboratory Scale Flow Reactor
Biography
Biography: August A. Gallo
Abstract
Our previous work demonstrated that supercritical methanol offers key advantages over the traditional, base catalyzed method to convert waste fats into biodiesel. This work established that supercritical transesterification occurs within minutes in the absence of catalysts. The use of supercritical methanol in the transesterification reaction offers several advantages including fast reaction times, catalyst free reactions, and minimal pre-processing of the fat. Recently, a laboratory scale supercritical flow reactor was assembled from off-the-shelf components and its suitability tested for the transesterification of alligator fat to biodiesel. Initial data indicate an exponential increase in product yields between 240°C and 420°C at reaction times of 5 and 30 minutes, respectively, with an approx. ten-fold higher yield for the latter reaction time. The product mixtures are clean and consist of the fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) of mostly C16- C18 carboxylic acids. This suggests that very high temperatures (≥ 420 °C) are needed and suited for the rapid conversion of alligator fat to biodiesel using supercritical methanol.