Basf collaborates with research at the Federal University of Tocantins to produce biodiesel from waste oil

A group of professors from the undergraduate course in Environmental Chemistry and the Postgraduate Program in Chemistry (PPGQ) set up a mini-plant in the Analytical Chemistry Laboratory of the Federal University of Tocantins (UFT), Gurupi Campus, to produce biodiesel from oil and residual fat (OGR). The raw material for the research and extension project is collected in open-air markets, restaurants and snack bars in the city of 88 thousand inhabitants, located in the south of the state. The group contacted BASF to request a partnership with the contribution of sodium methylate, a catalyst used to improve the production and quality of biodiesel.

The equipment assembled in the UFT laboratory had financial resources from the Pro Dean of Extension (PROEX) UFT, including a tank with a capacity of 60 liters that receives the OGR, a 40-liter tank for the purpose of storing the reagents used in the process, with temperature control and automatic pumping. Production is carried out on a pilot scale, using a reactor with the capacity to produce between 45 and 50 liters of biodiesel per batch, using only recycled waste oil. The oil is treated, filtered and neutralized and goes through a chemical reaction, which includes methanol and methylate, to produce biodiesel.

“It is very important for us to be able to collaborate with the research and incredible work of these professors in favor of science for a more sustainable future. It is a project that includes protecting the environment with the production of a less polluting fuel, in addition to avoiding the disposal of oil and promoting the circular economy”, says Alejandro Bossio, senior manager of Sodium Methylate for South America. “For At BASF, sustainability is one of the strategic pillars and a constant commitment that permeates all of our work, from our R&D laboratories to contact with our customers when proposing solutions”, he states.

Last year, BASF expanded the production capacity of its Sodium Methylate factory in Guaratinguetá, in the interior of São Paulo, by 30%, exceeding 80 thousand tons/year, to offer better support and guarantee supply to Brazilian biodiesel producers.

“It was a great satisfaction to be able to count on the collaboration and partnership of the donation of sodium methylate to continue the research/extension project that we are developing”, says professor, PhD in Chemistry, Carla Jovania Gomes Colares. “In the future, we will be able to offer partnerships through technical advice to small and medium-sized biodiesel manufacturers, for example, so that they have greater productivity and better quality of the fuel produced”, she considers.

According to the professor, the essence and main objective of the biodiesel production initiative from OGR is to open up possibilities for educational projects carried out in schools in the region, such as workshops, lectures, participation in science fairs and partnerships with local businesses, leading to community knowledge, extension projects carried out at UFT. Thus, ways of reusing oil are presented, demonstrating that it is possible to develop environmental educational work in a significant way, seeking complete learning and educational and social training. The project also intends to take to the municipality's partner schools, when face-to-face classes return, the simulation of biodiesel production with a small mini kit.