Synthesis of alumina-CaO-KI catalyst for the production of biodiesel from rubber seed oil [Sintesis mangkin alumina-CaO-KI untuk penghasilan biodiesel daripada minyak biji getah]

• Main Authors: Abdul Razak, Zainal Kifli, Shahida Hanum, Kamarullah, Siti Norhafiza, Mohd Khazaai, Gaanty Pragas, Maniam
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2018
• Subjects: Q Science (General)
• Online Access: http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/21626/1/Synthesis%20of%20alumina-cao-ki%20catalyst%20for%20the%20production%20of%20biodiesel%20from%20rubber%20seed%20oil.pdf; http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/21626/; http://www.ukm.my/mjas/v22_n2/pdf/ZainalKifli_22_2_13.pdf

In this research, biodiesel was produced by transesterification of rubber seed oil with methanol catalyzed by three types of alumina-supported catalyst. The catalysts were Al2O3 -CaO, Al2O3 -KI, and Al2O3 -CaO-KI. The catalysts were prepared by heating a mixture of alumina and the corresponding salt in a furnace at 700 oC. Transesterification reactions were carried out at 65 °C using a mixture of rubber seed oil: methanol of mass ratio 1:9 with different catalyst loadings between 0 and 3.5%. The optimum catalyst loading was at 2.0% for all types of catalyst and Al2O3 -CaO-KI gave the highest yield (91.6%) followed by Al2O3 -KI (90.7%) and Al2O3 -CaO (63.5%). The catalyst Al2O3 -CaO-KI also gave high biodiesel yields over a wider range of catalyst loadings compared to the other two catalysts. Reactions were also carried out at different temperatures (25, 40 and 65°C). It was observed that the yield increased drastically with increasing reaction temperature. At all temperatures the Al2O3 -CaO-KI catalyst gave the highest yield. Therefore, the study showed that among these three catalysts the most productive was Al2O3 -CaO-KI, (100:30:35).