Mesoporous oxo - phosphated sulfated zirconia (m-PSZ) were applied for converting vegetable oil deodorizer distillate to biodiesel in one-step reaction. The catalyst possessed mesopores, high surface area and strong acid sites while the feedstock contained mainly free fatty acids. Many investigations were established for finding the most suitable conditions of the biodiesel synthesis process. | Journal of Science and Technology 55 (1) (2017) 44-53 DOI: STUDY ON CONVERSION OF VEGETABLE OIL DEODORIZER DISTILLATE TO BIODIESEL USING MESOPOROUS OXOPHOSPHATED SULFATED ZIRCONIA Phong Van Pham1, Hong Khanh Dieu Nguyen2, * 1 2 Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group, 18 Lang Ha Street, Ba Dinh, Hanoi Hanoi University of Science and Technology, 1 Dai Co Viet Street, Hai Ba Trung, Hanoi * Email: dieuhong_bk@ Received: 11 April 2016; Accepted for publication: 15 September 2016 Mesoporous oxo - phosphated sulfated zirconia (m-PSZ) were applied for converting vegetable oil deodorizer distillate to biodiesel in one-step reaction. The catalyst possessed mesopores, high surface area and strong acid sites while the feedstock contained mainly free fatty acids. Many investigations were established for finding the most suitable conditions of the biodiesel synthesis process. Keywords: mesoporous, zirconia, oxo-phosphate, deodorizer distillate. 1. INTRODUCTION Biodiesel was an environmentally friendly fuel as it was made from renewable resources and CO2 balance. It was derived from the esterification of free fatty acids or the transesterification of triglycerides with methanol or ethanol. The base catalyzed process suffered from some limitations of feedstock, ecspecially the acid value must be lower than 1 avoiding the saponification during the alcoholysis [1, 2]. Therefore, in case of rich free fatty acid feedstocks, the solid acid catalysts were preferable [3]. Recently, there have developed various solid acids for the esterification of long chain fatty acids including sulfonated carbonized sugar [4], sulfated zirconia [5] and organosulfonic acid mesoporous silica [6]. However, the activities of most of these catalysts were still low in comparison with sulfuric acid. It was desirable to further develop good solid acid catalyst with high catalytic activity and stability for both esterification of fatty acids and transesterification of .
