Formulation of heterogeneous catalysts from natural and synthetic materials for biodiesel production

Abstract

The transesterification of canola oil with methanol at various conditions such as types of catalysts, catalysts concentrations, reaction temperatures, and the ratios of metal oxide to natural material as a catalyst were investigated in this work. A series of alkaline earth and transition metal oxides including complex transition metal oxides were used as synthetic catalysts. The natural materials used were animal shell, crustacean shell and mollusk shell. The reaction temperatures were set to 45 ℃, 55 ℃, and 65 ℃. The reaction times evaluated were 30 and 60 minutes. The methanol to oil molar ratio, mixing rate and reaction pressure were kept constant at 6:1,800 rpm, and 15 psig under nitrogen atmosphere, respectively. The ¹H-NMR spectroscopy was used to identify the biodiesel product and calculate the yield percentage. The experimental results demonstrated that the combination of metal oxide 1 (M1O) and crustacean shell type 1 (CS1) as well as the combination of metal oxide 1 (M1O) and crustacean shell type 2 (CS2) improved the biodiesel yield at 45 ℃, 30 minutes. In addition, some of the metal oxides and metal carbonates combinations could achieve a higher biodiesel yield as compared to the yield obtained from the use of M10 alone.