The synthesis of SO4/ZrO2 and Zr/CaO catalysts via hydrothermal treatment and their application for conversion of low-grade coconut oil into biodiesel

SO4/ZrO2 and Zr/CaO catalysts have been successfully synthesized and applied to esterification and transesterification process for conversion of coconut oil into biodiesel. SO4/ZrO2 catalyst was synthesized via hydrolysis (sol-gel) of ZrOCl2 center dot 8H(2)O, followed by hydrothermal process, sulfation in various concentration of (NH4)(2)SO4, and calcination at various temperatures. Likewise with Zr/CaO was synthesized through the hydrothermal process by dispersing Zr4+ ions on CaO center dot Zr4+ was formed by desolvation of ZrOCl2 center dot 8H(2)O in water, then calcination was applied to determine the highest crystalline phase and total basicity. The SO4/ZrO2 catalyst had the highest total acidity and crystallized phase at concentrations of 0,5 M (NH4)(2)SO4 and calcination temperature of 500 degrees C. The Zr/CaO base catalyst had the highest basicity and a new crystalline phase of CaZrO3 was formed at a concentration of 15 % Zr/CaO and the calcination temperature of 800 degrees C. 0.5 M SO4/ZrO2-500 effectively reduce coconut oil FFA levels in the esterification process. 15 % Zr/CaO-800 catalyst successfully converted coconut oil into biodiesel in the transesterification process. The biodiesel produced is predominantly of methyl laurate, methyl myristate and methyl palmitate.