Purification and Performance of the Reuse of Magnesol® Used for
Purification of Biodiesel
Abstract
Purification of biodiesel with dry adsorbents is an alternative method,
as it uses compounds that eliminate the need for water in the process
without generating liquid effluent. Currently, there is little
discussion about the reuse of different types of adsorbents and in this
context, the present work presents an efficient method of purification
and investigates the performance of the reuse of Magnesol® in the
purification of biodiesel in order to generate less waste to the
environment. Therefore, the Magnesol® used was washed with several
solvents with different polarity characteristics. Among the solvents
tested, THF is the best solvent for the purification of Magnesol® and,
after optimizing the Magnesol® purification process, it was concluded
the best conditions are three washes in solvent / adsorbent ratio 30:1
at room temperature, resulting in only 3.89% of the residual value of
contaminants and being an alternative for biodiesel companies.