Estudo da obtenção inédita de etanol anidro da algaroba para inovadora aplicação na produção de biodiesel

Abstract

Anhydrous ethanol is an important and essential component of biodiesel production processes. In Brazil, the ethanol marketed is almost exclusively obtained from the culture of sugarcane, generating, therefore, the need to discover and make available new and varied alternative sources of raw materials for the production of this biofuel, with the intention of make it increasingly sustainable. In view of this, the objective was in an unprecedented way to obtain dehydrated ethanol from mesquite pods through the use of an environmentally beneficial means with the application of zeolites, using a simple benchtop microsystem, as well as a manufactured distillation system that has been specially designed for this purpose. In addition, the characteristics of the anhydrous alcohol obtained were evaluated, as well as its unprecedented application in the production of biodiesel. The modified distillation system was used for efficiency tests in obtaining sugarcane alcohol as a reference for later comparison to tests with mesquite pods. From the tests carried out initially in the conventional distillation system at bench level from a hydroalcoholic solution of sugar cane, a result of only 81 °GL was reached, and, after operational optimization, in a second test carried out using the distillation system manufactured, it was reached 95 °GL and 100 °GL of production of hydrated and anhydrous alcohol, respectively. From then on, adopting the optimized conditions for the mesquite tests as raw material, and using the manufactured system, 95 °GL was reached in the first test. And, in the second test, in just 2 h of zeolites addition, it was possible to reach 98 °GL and 100 °GL in 12 h of rest. Consequently, as expected, 100°GL of anhydrous alcohol was reached in a third test, when using the proposed manufactured system. The anhydrous alcohol from mesquite pods, obtained from the manufactured system, was then tested in the production of soybean biodiesel, reaching conversions of up to 100% of the oil into ethyl esters. Therefore, considering the set of results achieved, it is said that the optimized methodologies using zeolites, as well as the manufactured system, were successful in obtaining organic anhydrous alcohol from mesquite pods, in addition to representing excellent potential for application in the production of biodiesel. These results reflect a character of innovation and technological improvement in this area, generating knowledge diffusion and social promotion, which converge in important projections of sustainable development of biofuels, contributing to the agreements signed at a global level for decarbonization.