Mary Kate Mitchell to Present Research at National Biodiesel Conference

Biodiesel is an important source of energy in a sustainable world. For instance, for every 100 gallons of biodiesel used instead of petroleum diesel, one metric ton of carbon dioxide emissions is avoided.

So finding better ways to process biodiesel is critical. To that end, Ph.D. student Mary Kate Mitchell will present her research next week at the 2018 National Biodiesel Conference & Expo in Fort Worth, Texas. Her attendance is funded through a scholarship for which she was selected from the Next Generation Scientists for Biodiesel. 

Mitchell will present a poster and give a talk on research she is conducting in the lab of Dr. Julie Zimmerman, professor of chemical & environmental engineering, with Ph.D. candidate Thomas Kwan. There, they’re researching the use of high pressure carbon dioxide and heterogeneous catalysts to enable the conversion of bio-oils into biodiesel.

Using carbon dioxide as a solvent is advantageous because it is inherently green and non-toxic. In contrast, industrial production of biodiesel involves the use of toxic organic solvents and is commonly done through homogenous catalysis that requires additional downstream biodiesel purification steps. The heterogeneous catalysts used in Zimmerman’s lab can be easily recovered from the product, used in a fixed bed for scaled-up continuous operation processes, and can be reused.

Mitchell specifically investigated the conversions of three common bio-oils - canola oil, coconut oil, and palm oil - to further understanding for real world processes. 

The results were a success. All three oils showed similar conversion rates of 38-42% conversion at a one-hour reaction time – an improvement over the 30% conversion rates of standard triglycerides at similar reaction conditions.

Mitchell said the next step for the research includes exploring the selectivity potential of high pressure carbon dioxide with specific products in mind to achieve an integrated biorefinery that produces high value products along with biodiesel.