Abstract

The hydroesterification process is presented for biodiesel production from Nannochloropsis oculata microalgae biomass. Biodiesel studied in this work is the main product from hydroesterification of biomass, the Nannochloropsis oculata, and was obtained from esterification of fatty acid (product of an hydrolysis reaction) with methanol. As catalyst we used the pure niobium oxide (NP) as well as supported on alumina (Nb2O5/Al2O3) (NS) and impregnated with phosphoric acid (Nb2O5/H3PO4) (NIF). The product was evaluated by gas chromatography and other analyses. The optimum conditions found in the conversion (%) for the hydrolysis reactions of Nb2O5 (88.86%), by Nb2O5/Al2O3 (92.00%) and Nb2O5/H3PO4 (95.45%), were observed in the biomass concentration 20%, 300°C. For esterification of fatty acids of Nannochloropsis oculata with NP (86.03%), NS (93.55%) and NIF (95.43%), we observed the molar ratio methanol: fatty acid 3:1, at 200°C with 20% of catalyst.

Keywords: Biodiesel, Microalgae, Hydrolysis, Esterification, Nannochloropsis oculata, Niobium oxide catalyst, Alumina, Phosphoric acid.