Study of Heterogeneous Catalysts in Transesterification for Biosiesel Production

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Studies for clean fuels are interesting for the development of research through the processing of oils and fats, consisting of fatty acids, with high energy power and capable of conversion to esters (biodiesel), in transesterification or esterification reactions with homogeneous, heterogeneous catalysis, enzymatic. Basic homogeneous catalysis is the most widely used way of obtaining biodiesel, however it requires refined raw material and is free of water. In addition, the commonly used catalysts (NaOH, KOH, etc.) are aggressive to the environment and require a neutralization step. Heterogeneous catalysts have been shown to be efficient in transesterification reactions, because in addition to being reusable and not requiring a neutralization step after the reaction, they also have great economic viability. The considerations reported demonstrate the potential of heterogeneous catalysts in transesterification reactions, highlighting economic, technological and environmental aspects; and reinforce the need for incentives and research.