Preparation of biodiesel from cottonseed oil catalyzed by solid based catalyst

In order to study the related technology for preparing biodiesel by transesterification of cottonseed oil using solid based catalyst, with supported solid base Na3PO4/MgO as catalyst and biodiesel conversion rate as index, the optimum conditions for catalyst preparation were analyzed by single-factor and orthogonal experiments. The catalyst was characterized by methods of XRD, SEM and TG. Furthermore, the transesterification conditions from cottonseed oil to biodiesel were investigated using solid base catalyst. It was obtained that the optimum conditions for catalyst preparation were: 32% of Na3PO4 dosage on MgO, 600℃ of roasting temperature, 3 h of roasting time and 70℃ of blending temperature. Catalytic activity was related to Na3PO4 crystalline phase. The optimal conditions of transesterification with optimized catalyst were: 2.5 h of reaction time, 70℃ of reaction temperature, 15:1 of mass ratio of methanol to oil, 5% of quality ratio of catalyst to oil.