Journal
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
Volume 9, Issue 1, Pages -Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.jece.2020.104955
Keywords
Biodiesel; Catalyst; Anthill; Zinc oxide; Optimization; Transesterification
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This study developed a new eco-friendly solid catalyst from anthill-zinc modification for methanolysis of low-grade feedstock to produce biodiesel. The optimized conditions for the reaction resulted in a high biodiesel yield of 83.16%, showing good agreement with the predicted value. The catalyst exhibited better stability after being regenerated and reused for six cycles, indicating its potential for economical biofuel production from waste products.
Biodiesel, an unconventional fuel to substitute the existing fossil diesel, is non-toxic, biodegradable, possesses high lubricity and better combustion capacity. In this paper, a new eco-friendly solid catalyst was developed from anthill-zinc modification for methanolysis of low-grade feedstock (waste cooking oil, WCO) to make biodiesel. The zinc-modified anthill was prepared via the sol-gel technique and characterized by EDX, TGA/DTA, FTIR, XRD, SEM, BET and CO2-TPD. The optimum experimental conditions obtained by a central composite design were 17.99:1, 0.51 wt%, and 66.5 degrees C for the molar ratio of methanol to WCO, catalyst loading and reaction temperature, respectively. At these optimum values, the highest experimentally obtained biodiesel yield was 83.16%, which matched the predicted value (82.71%) reasonably well with R-2 = 0.9914. According to gas chromatography analysis, the fatty acid methyl ester conversion under optimum conditions was 97.05%. While 20% blending of biodiesel on a volume basis with petroleum-based diesel showed remarkable fuel properties, the catalyst exhibited better stability after being regenerated and reused for six cycles. This study extends the frontier of knowledge in the economical production of biofuels from waste products.
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