Performance Evaluation of Hydrotalcite Catalyst Synthesized using Coconut Shell Templates for Biodiesel Production from Waste Cooking Oil

Abstract

Purpose Coconut shell has been used as an organic template for the synthesis of hydrotalcite catalyst. The performance of this catalyst was to produce biodiesel from waste cooking oil has been compared with the hydrotalcite catalyst which was synthesized using saccharose as template. Method Hydrotalcite was synthesized via combustion method with coconut shell and saccharose as template. The two main variables of the study are the catalyst organic template and the catalyst calcination temperature. Hydrotalcite was calcined at various temperatures, namely 550 ℃, 650 ℃ and 750 ℃ respectively. Biodiesel was produced via transesterification. Result It was found that hydrotalcite synthesized using coconut shell as template which calcined at a temperature of 650 ℃ produced a biodiesel yield of up to 93.25%, which is higher than hydrotalcite using saccharose as an organic template (74.14%). Conclusion Studies show that agricultural waste can serve as a better organic template in the synthesis of hydrotalcite which resulted in more biodiesel yield in transesterification reaction.