Scientists in China have developed a catalyst made from shrimp shells that they believe could transform the production of biodiesel fuel into a faster, less expensive more environmentally friendly process. St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Today’s biodiesel production processes, however, require catalysts to speed up the chemical reactions that transform soybean, canola, and other plant oils into diesel fuel.
Traditional catalysts cannot be reused and must be neutralised with large amounts of water — another increasingly scarce resource — leaving behind a lot of polluted water.
The new catalysts can also be reused and the process minimises waste production and pollution, the scientists said. Gaea Times
The researchers at Hua Zhong Agriculture University in Wuhan, China, and their colleagues first heated shrimp shells for hours, transforming it into a highly porous framework material. They next loaded its extensive surface area with potassium fluoride, making it catalytic.
In lab tests, the cheap, biodegradable shrimp shell catalyst converted canola oil to biodiesel faster and more efficiently than some conventional catalysts, demonstrating 89 percent conversion in three hours.
The new catalyst also can be reused and the manufacturing process led to less pollution and waste. FOX News
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