Biodiesel dry purification with sugarcane bagasse

Published Date

30 October 2016, Vol.89:119–127, doi:10.1016/j.indcrop.2016.05.005

Title 

Biodiesel dry purification with sugarcane bagasse

• Author 

• Magno José Alves
• Ícaro Vinícius Cavalcanti
• Miriam Maria de Resende
• Vicelma Luiz Cardoso
• Miria Hespanhol Reis ^,,

• Faculdade de Engenharia Química, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Av. João Naves de Ávila, 2121, 38400-902, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Received 26 January 2016. Revised 18 March 2016. Accepted 2 May 2016. Available online 17 May 2016.

Highlights

• •
  Biodiesel purification using sugarcane bagasse as adsorbent.
• •
  Addition of 0.5 wt% of sugarcane bagasse removed 40% of the glycerine from crude biodiesel.
• •
  Sugarcane bagasse and Magnesol presented similar results for biodiesel purification.
• •
  The maximum predicted adsorption is of 88.86 mg g⁻¹.
• •
  The adsorption process is controlled by chemisorption.

Abstract

Biodiesel is an important renewable fuel that can be used as a substitute of petro diesel. Downstream processes represent a major concern in biodiesel production due to cost and because it is time consuming. The application of dry purification processes emerges as a promising alternative for biodiesel purification, but the applied adsorbent material should ensure biodiesel quality and process efficiency. Here we propose the application of sugarcane bagasse as a low cost adsorbent material for biodiesel treatment. Sugarcane bagasse was used in three different forms: raw sugarcane bagasse (as received), steam explosion pre-treated bagasse and bagasse ash. Equilibrium adsorption data showed that the addition of only 0.5 wt% of sugarcane bagasse removed 40% of the glycerine of the crude biodiesel and produced a purified biodiesel with less than 0.02 wt% of glycerine. The adjustment of equilibrium data to isotherm models showed that glycerine adsorption on sugarcane bagasse is not fully Langmuirian due to the heterogeneous surface of the adsorbent and the non-uniform distribution of heat of adsorption. Sugarcane bagasse proves to be a promising adsorbent for glycerine, with the maximum predicted glycerine adsorption of 88.86 mg g⁻¹. The kinetic data of glycerine adsorption in raw sugarcane bagasse could be adjusted to the pseudo-second order model, which indicates that the rate-limiting step may be chemisorption. Kinetic data highlighted the fast nature of the process, since the glycerine removal was greater than 70% after only 10 min of adsorption process. Sugarcane bagasse presented results for biodiesel purification similar to those for the wet washing process or with Magnesol^®. Thus, dry purification with sugarcane bagasse is a suitable alternative for biodiesel treatment in a low cost and efficient process.

Keywords

• Biodiesel
• Dry purification
• Sugarcane bagasse
• Steam explosion
• Bagasse ash

---

Fig. 1.

Fig. 2.

Fig. 3.

Fig. 4.

Fig. 5.

Fig. 6.

 Table 1

Table 1.

Fig. 7.

Fig. 8.

 Table 2

Table 2.

 Table 3

Table 3.

• ⁎ 
  Corresponding author.
  
  

For further details log on website :
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0926669016303090