Magnetic mesoporous KOH/Fe₃O₄@MCM‐41 nanocatalyst for biodiesel production from waste cooking oil: Optimization of process variables and kinetics study

Abstract

In this study, biodiesel production via transesterification of waste cooking oil as feedstocks and methanol was studied over KOH/Fe 3 O 4 @MCM-41 catalyst. The X-ray diffraction, BET, FT-IR, and field-emission scanning electron microscopy techniques were applied to describe the structural characterization of the catalyst. The effects of the catalyst amount, reaction time, and alcohol to oil molar ratio were investigated using central composite design method and ANOVA analysis. Among the evaluated conditions, 3.32 h reaction time, 8.51% loaded catalyst, and 42.36 alcohols to oil molar ratio can provide an optimal biodiesel production of 93.95%. Moreover, the catalyst revealed high-reusability over three cycles. Based on the reaction kinetics study, several parameters such as rate constants at three temperatures, activation energy and frequency factors were investigated.