Effect of Catalyst type and Concentration on Biodiesel Yield and Quality

Abstract

This paper present study report the effect of catalyst type and concentration on yield and quality of biodiesel produced from cotton seed oil. This was achieved through the production of biodiesel from refined cottonseed oil via the transesterification process by studying the effect of various catalyst on biodiesel yield. The catalyst studied include; sodium hydroxide, iron sulphate and potassium carbonate at different concentration. The yield of biodiesel decreased with increase in catalyst concentration from 0.25 to 0.75 wt% thus, highest conversion was obtained at 0.25wt% concentration for sodium hydroxide (NaOH), potassium hydroxide (KOH), iron sulphate (FeSO4) and potassium carbonate (K_2 〖CO〗_3) catalyst, with corresponding yield of 96%, 94%, 92% and 82%. The fuel properties from the tranesterified refined cottonseed oil show its suitability with the ASTM standard for the production of biodiesel.