HETEROGENEOUS CATALYSIS USING BENTONITE-SUPPORTED Fe-Co-Ni TRIMETALLIC NANOPARTICLES

Abstract

Herein, the synthesis and characterization of a bentonite-supported Fe-Co-Ni trimetallic nanocatalyst applied in transesterification reaction was reported. The synthesized heterogeneous catalyst was used to investigate the production of biodiesel by varying the reaction parameters using Box-Behnken design response surface methodology (RSM-BBD). An optimum biodiesel yield of 95.2 % was obtained at methanol to oil ratio of 10:1, reaction time of 2 hours, reaction temperature of 55 and catalyst concentration of 5 % (w/w of the oil). The biodiesel produced was later analysed using GC-MS analysis and the results shows a fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) profile that confirms the presence of biodiesel.

Enhanced biodiesel production from waste cooking oils catalyzed by sodium hydroxide supported on heterogeneous co-catalyst of bentonite clay

“…As depicted in Figure 1, the formation of glycerine tended to decrease from 31 to 18% when the proportion of bentonite used as the co-catalyst was increased from 30 to 40%. This indicated that the use of bentonite clay as a co-catalyst in the transesterification of WCO was quite valuable in cutting the excessive use of chemical catalysts (Alade et al 2021). The results showed that even if bentonite clay was used in high proportions, it still has potential to reduce the glycerine formation, and could subsequently enhance the biodiesel production during the transesterification.…”