ESTERIFICATION OF FUSEL OIL WITH OLEIC ACID FOR THE PRODUCTION OF POTENTIAL BIOLUBRICANTS

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.22533/at.ed.3174112412043

• Palavras-chave: Fusel Oil, Esterification, Oleic acid, Biolubricant.

• Keywords: Fusel Oil, Esterification, Oleic acid, Biolubricant.

• Abstract:

  Due to constant concerns about the environment, many researchers have sought to develop alternative products with the aim of reducing the environmental impacts caused by petroleum derivatives. Brazil is the second largest producer of the biofuel called ethanol, produced from sugar cane. However, throughout the ethanol production process, large quantities of fusel oil are generated. In this sense, the objective of this work was to study a possible destination for fusel oil. For this purpose, the fusel oil esterification reaction was carried out with oleic acid, epoxidation of esters, hydrolysis of epoxides and acetylation of hydroxyls to obtain compounds. With successive chemical modifications, different types of potential biolubricants were produced, with viscosities classified as ISO GV7, 10, 22, and SAE 0, 15, 20 and 30W. These results indicated that fusel oil has great potential to be used in the production of biolubricants, and this way, contribute to the range of renewable products that are less harmful to the environment.