Hee Jun Eom

Tungsten oxide zirconia as solid superacid catalyst for esterification of waste acid oil (dark oil)

Biodiesel is a renewable fuel which can be produced through an esterification reaction. The cost of feedstock which resulted in that of biodiesel is a large problem to be resolved. Dark oil from industrial process can be a better alternative for biodiesel production because of its low price. In spite of this, the study of biodiesel production using the dark oil has not been reported. This study provides technical information and catalytic properties on this system. Among the several catalysts, WO(3)/ZrO(2) catalyst was the most effective catalyst in the esterification of the dark oil to fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs). The catalytic reaction parameters were optimized that 20 wt.% WO(3)/ZrO(2) has a high FFA conversion of 96% at 150 degrees C, 0.4 g/ml (oil), 1:9 (oil to alcohol, molar ratio) and 2h reaction time. The physical and chemical properties of the catalyst were characterized by XRD, Raman spectrometer, BET and NH(3)-TPD.

Impregnation of tungstophosphoric acid on poly(methacrylamide-co-methyl methacrylate) and its acid catalytic activity in TMB alkylation

A poly(methacrylamide-co-methylmethacrylate) (abbreviated PMAA-MMA) polymer support was studied for supporting a heteropolyacid (tungstophosphoric acid, H3PW12O40) with its surface positively charged in the polymerization step. PMAA-MMA supports could be obtained in a porous form by eliminating template reagent molecules (benzylmalonic acid) combined with properly selected monomer (methacrylamide). The amount of amine groups in PMAA-MMA directly determined the amount of H3PW12O40 impregnated, because the amine groups induced a positive charge on the PMAA-MMA surface. Finally, H3PW12O40/PMAA-MMA showed better acid catalytic activities than unsupported H3PW12O40 in alkylation of 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene with cyclohexene, which confirmed that PMAA-MMA supported H3PW12O40 effectively.