Niobium
oxide impregnated with sodium (Na/Nb2O5) was
used as a heterogeneous catalyst to produce biofuel from conventional
raw materials, such as soybean oil and beef tallow, and non-conventional
feedstocks, including andiroba, babassu, coconut, crambe, macaw palm,
palm, palm kernel, and jatropha oils. The trials were performed at
fixed conditions using 10% catalyst at 78.5 °C under stirring
(600 rpm) for 5 h. On the basis of the results generated by gas and
liquid chromatographies, high catalytic activity was found for all
tested feedstocks, revealing yields higher than 95%. The purity of
the ethyl esters was validated by thermogravimetric analysis and nuclear
magnetic resonance. The Na/Nb2O5 catalyst performed
efficiently, converting the fatty acids present in the lipid raw materials
to the ethyl esters, and showed high stability in consecutive batches,
generating products that meet the specificity of international standards.
The heterogeneity of the catalyst was also confirmed by determining
the sodium concentration in both biodiesel and the catalyst after
consecutive batch runs.