One-Step Green Biodiesel Production From Waste Cooking Oil Using BiocharBased Catalyst

Abstract

It has become increasingly attractive to the globe to replace fossil fuels, because of the the limited supply, volatile oil prices, and worries about greenhouse gas emissions. In the majority of developed countries, the primary source of energy are fossil fuels. Fossil fuels definitely meet the world energy requirement of over 90% and are the most secure existing energy supplies. Researchers have estimated that fossil supplies will be cut short in 2050 owing to hundreds of thousands of times the increasing demand and use of fossil fuels relative to natural production. On the other hand, biodiesel is both a biodegradable and biogenic petrol. This usually consists of biological resources that are composed of triacylglycerols (TAGs), including edible oils, animal fats, algal oils, non-edible oils, used kitchen oil and recycled fats, and alcohols which through transesterification processes form a new ester and glycerol. The study reports first time the production of biodiesel from waste cooking oil using 20Ca/AC-650 catalyst in a transesterification process. To obtain high yield operating parameters were optimized. Highest yield of 96% was obtained at 1:8 oil to methanol molar ratio, 65oC temperature, 160 mins of reaction time and 5 wt% catalyst concentration. Prepared catalyst was further characterized using SEM, EDX, XRD, BET and SEM. Characterization result revealed that synthesized catalyst has high crystalline catalyst, even pour size distribution and effective catalyst loading. Furthermore, catalyst showed high basicity which was the key parameter to obtain high yield. Afterwards the catalyst used was regenerated and reutilized after regeneration. Synthesized biodiesel was afterwards characterized through GC-MS analysis. EN 14214 and ASTM D6751 standards were compared with physicochemical characteristics. Results showed that all values were within the set limitations. Therefore, biodiesel produced from waste cooking oil using catalyst synthesized from biomass and waste eggshell had great potential to be utilized in diesel engines.