Heterogeneous Catalysts for Biodiesel Production

Development of a viable, low temperature, solid basic catalyst for the biodiesel reaction could greatly simplify  and vastly improve the economics of biodiesel production, as it removes the need for a constant supply of the current homogeneous supply (which is not regenerated) and reduces the load on downstream operations. In so doing it would also reduce the environmental impact of the process, by reducing waste.

Following on from two completed PhD projects (McLeod and Wan Yussof), this project aims to investigate catalysts on tailored substrates for heterogeneous catalysis of biodiesel. As well as developing our own catalysts, Newcastle’s part of the project would be to evaluate catalysts from a reactor engineering point of view to feed back to our partners at Cardiff University, who will modify and develop microstructured catalysts.

For more details, please contact Prof Adam Harvey or Dr Anh Phan.