Transesterification of Waste Cooking Oil to Biodiesel over Calcined Hydroxy Sodalite (HS) Catalyst: A preliminary investigation

Abstract

Abstract-In this article, preliminary investigation on the use of hydroxy sodalite (HS) as a solid catalyst for the transesterification of waste cooking oil (WCO) to biodiesel is presented. Hydroxy sodalite was synthesized in our laboratory via the conventional hydrothermal synthesis technique and the crystals were used as basic solid catalyst to convert waste cooking oil to biodiesel. Physicochemical properties of the as-synthesized HS catalyst were obtained using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) for surface chemistry and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) for the morphology. The reaction was conducted at 60 o C for 6 h at a methanol-to-WCO ratio of 7.5:1 using 3 wt.% HS catalyst. The stirring was at 400 rpm to ensure uniform concentration and heat distribution during the reaction. The product obtained after the reaction was analyzed using a pre-calibrated Chromatography-Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS). The SEM images of the solid catalyst and the FTIR spectra show that HS particles were synthesized. The result of the analysis of the product revealed that biodiesel was produced. As far as could be ascertained, this is the first open report on the use of HS as solid catalyst for biodiesel production. The results of the investigation opened up further on-going research efforts in this area in our laboratory and subsequent results will be communicated in the future.

Synthesis of Hydroxy Sodalite from Coal Fly Ash for Biodiesel Production from Waste-Derived Maggot Oil

“…By increasing the synthesis time to 24 h, the morphology of the resultant S-24 sample, as presented in Figure 2c, evolved into agglomerated thread, ball-like crystals. The hierarchical ball-like morphology is commonly associated with HS zeolite [9]. In spite of the above, the sample in question exhibited a very low HS crystalline phase (18%).…”

Biodiesel production from palm olein: A sustainable bioresource for Nigeria

“…Its possession of higher flashpoint in comparison to petroleum-derived diesel makes it one of the safest and non-toxic fuels option (Aransiola et al, 2013). Chabisha P Makgaba and Daramola (2015) observed that the application of biodiesel within a diesel internal combustion system improved the lubricity of the system and extended the catalytic converters life when compared to the base system. The system production process and general utilisation cuts down emissions drastically to about seventy-eight percent when compared to petroleum-derived diesel.…”

Optimization of Pelleting Parameters for Producing Composite Pellets Using Zeolitic Material From Fly Ash

“…Binder (% wt) Workability e agglomerated ball-like morphology is commonly associated with hydroxysodalite zeolite [40]. It is evident that the morphological representation of hydroxysodalite and mixture with others zeolite types through SEM data does not always allow the particular phase identity [41].…”