Production of biodiesel from Balanite aegyptiaca seed oil using chemical-activated catalyst produced from coconut shell

Abstract

Heterogeneous catalyst produced from coconut waste shell (CWS) via chemical activation was utilized for biodiesel production from Balanite aegyptiaca seed oil. The effects of impregnation ratios (2 – 10 g/cm3 ), activation temperatures (500 – 900 oC) and time (1 – 3 h) on the yield of catalyst were investigated. The chemical-activated catalyst produced from coconut shell was characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The biodiesel was further characterized using GC-MS. The heterogeneous catalyst produced by chemical activation under the following optimum conditions: activation temperature (800 oC), impregnation ratio (3:6g/cm3 ), and reaction time (1 h) was of high yield. SEM images showed a highly porous characteristic, with lots of cavities and strands on the surface. The optimum conditions to achieve maximum yield of the biodiesel (82.9%) were reaction temperature (40 oC), methanol/oil molar ratios (9:1 cm3 ), catalyst concentration (1.0 g/cm3 ) and reaction time (60 min). The fuel properties of biodiesel produced by chemical activation catalyst were: kinematic viscosity (5.70 mm2 /s), specific gravity (0.86), pour point (9 oC), flash point (185 oC), cloud point (9 oC), colour 1.0 and cetane number 62. The GC-MS analysis demonstrated the presence of decanoic acid methyl ester, hexadecanoic acid, methyl ester, 4-hexenoic acid methyl ester and pentadecanoic acid methyl ester. The study showed that chemically produced heterogeneous catalyst from coconut waste shell can be used for the production of biodiesel.