Transesterification of Jatropha oil to biodiesel using SrO catalysts modified with CaO from waste eggshell

Addition of SrO in combination with a hydration technique were used to modify eggshell-derived CaO catalysts for transesterification of Jatropha oil with methanol. A Box-Behnken design of experiment was employed to determine the optimal conditions. The results showed that the maximum methyl ester content of 99.71% could be achieved with the catalyst having 7 mmol/g of SrO at 65 degrees C, 89.8 min, MeOH:oil molar ratio of 27.6:1, and catalyst amount of 4.77 wt%. At these conditions, the catalyst remained active with methyl ester content of ca. 90% for several cycles and gradually deactivated due to the losses of active metals.

Automated summary

In this study, SrO in combination with a hydration technique was added to modify eggshell-derived CaO catalysts for transesterification of Jatropha oil with methanol. A Box-Behnken design experiment was used to determine the optimal conditions for achieving a maximum methyl ester content of 99.71%. The results showed that the catalyst remained active with a methyl ester content of approximately 90% for several cycles before gradually deactivating due to the losses of active metals.