Application of Palygorskite in Purification Process of Frying Oil

The Brazil produces a million tons of waste oils from frying, annually. Disposal of these usually is done improperly, resulting in serious environmental problems. In this context, the objective was to develop a method for purification of oils used in frying, using palygorskite as an cleansing agent. For this, acid activation and characterization of palygorskite was realized. So, were developed a method for purification of oil, using 23 factorial design as a tool for process optimization. Subsequently, was realized the physicochemical characterization of oils by transesterification followed by GC-MS. The results revealed a significant increase in the adsorption of the clay after acid activation process, while tests of purification of frying oil showed effective improvement of their characteristics, highlighting the disappearance of the smell of rancid oil and bleaching. The results showed that the purification method used was efficient.