Utilization of waste fish bone as catalyst in transesterification of RBD palm oil

• Main Authors: Abd Manaf, Intan Shafinaz, Cheong, Jiun Yi, Ab. Rahim, Mohd Hasbi, Maniam, Gaanty Pragas
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2019
• Subjects: QD Chemistry; T Technology (General)
• Online Access: http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/29059/1/1.%20Utilization%20of%20waste%20fish%20bone%20as%20catalyst%20in%20transesterification%20of%20RBD%20palm%20oil.pdf; http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/29059/

Biodiesel is becoming more important as it is chosen to be one of the alternative fuels to replace fossil fuel nowadays, as well as waste materials also play a significant role in cheaper and greener fuels. In this research, waste fish bones modified with potassium hydroxide (KOH) were utilized as a cost-effective catalyst in the transesterification of RBD palm oil with methanol. The waste fish bones were calcined at 900 ℃ for 2 h and then added with different concentration of KOH to form K+ impregnated calcined fish bones (K-CFB). The prepared catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray (FESEM) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The characterization results showed that K+ was successfully impregnated on calcined fish bones (CFB). Methyl ester was yielded at the highest content of 96.14 wt. % when the conditions are optimized at 5 wt. % catalyst loading, methanol to oil ratio of 12:1 and reaction time of 3 h. The CFB loaded with 10 wt. % KOH (10K-CFB) was found to be a potential heterogeneous base catalyst for transesterification due to its high catalytic activity.