The development of heterogeneous catalyst C/CaO/NaOH from waste of green mussel shell (Perna varidis) for biodiesel synthesis

This study was aimed to use green mussel shell (Perna viridis) as raw materials for CaO heterogeneous catalyst in the transesterification process of palm oil into biodiesel. Green mussel shell was calcined for 3 h at a temperature of 900 degrees C to become CaO catalyst, then mixed by activated carbon with the ratio of C:CaO = 2:3 and impregnated with a solution of NaOH. The catalyst was used in biodiesel production at constant reaction temperature of 65 degrees C for 3 h and methanol to oil ratio of 0.5:1 (%wt). The optimum yield biodiesel was 95.12%, which was achieved at NaOH concentration at impregnation process of 30% and the catalyst load of 7.5%. The obtained biodiesel properties were in agreement with national standard (SNI) of biodiesel.