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UFSC Revolutionizes Biodiesel Production with New Sustainable Technology! Discover How Eco-Friendly Fuel Can Be Produced Twice and Boost Renewable Energy.
Researchers from the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), through the Laboratory of Combustion and Applied Catalysis (LAC), located on the Joinville campus, developed a reactor that doubles biodiesel production. The new technology is a means for producing a more sustainable fuel and has already had its patent filed. The information was disclosed by the portal apufsc on January 27 of this year.
Understand How Biodiesel Production Works with UFSC’s New Technology
The innovation of the new technology for sustainable fuel production lies precisely in eliminating steps from the process.
In conventional production methods, the reagents, usually soybean oil and methanol, need to be mixed before being placed in reactors that operate at temperatures of 80 °C.
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UFSC’s reactor does not use this prior mixture, as it utilizes electrical discharges occurring inside it to mix the reagents, which does not happen under normal conditions.
Thus, two steps in the process become just one, enhancing biodiesel production. The patent filing is awaiting analysis by the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI).
It is worth highlighting that biodiesel is a sustainable fuel option, and its production is boosted by international agreements and new incentive policies from the country. The Future Fuel Law, 14.993/2024, encourages the use of this resource.
The regulation establishes the National Green Diesel Program (PNDV), which operates with the mission of reducing carbon emissions, mainly those generated by heavy vehicles, promoting the replacement of polluting sources with cleaner and more renewable alternatives.
The agreements made by Brazil in the Paris Agreement in 2015 to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 also drive biodiesel production.
UFSC Scientists Advance with the New Technology
The team of scientists consists of postdoctoral researcher Maira Oliveira Palm and undergraduate students Lucas Pavani and Júlia Rezende, under the supervision of Professor Rafael Catapan, project coordinator, and Professors Cátia Carvalho Pinto and Diego Duarte. The idea for the new technology to generate sustainable fuel originated during Maira Oliveira Palm’s PhD in environmental engineering.
The researcher reformulated the project during her postdoctoral studies in engineering and mechanical sciences. The UFSC scientists will continue research with the new biodiesel production technology, testing the processes with new raw materials and assessing the quality of the products obtained. The researchers will also test the use of heterogeneous catalysts, which may reduce production costs.
Institutions Behind UFSC’s Technology
In addition to LAC, the project for sustainable fuel production involved the Surface Treatment Laboratory (LAT) also from UFSC Joinville and the graduate programs in Graduate Studies in Engineering and Mechanical Sciences in Joinville, in Environmental Engineering, and in Mechanical Engineering in Florianópolis. Students from Aerospace Engineering and Railway and Metro Engineering participated in the development of the new technology through scientific initiation scholarships.
The project received support from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), the National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (FNDCT/MCTI), and the Foundation for Research and Innovation Support of the State of Santa Catarina (FAPESC).
It is important to mention that biodiesel is a sustainable and biodegradable fuel, which can be obtained through esterification, cracking, or transesterification. The main raw materials are sunflower, peanuts, babassu, soybean, castor bean, palm oil, as well as animal fat.
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