Synthesis of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch Supported Solid Catalyst for Fuel Additivies Production

• Main Author: Ridhwan Faiz Bin Mohd Zailisham
• Published: 2023
• Subjects: Empty fruit bunch; Esterification; Levulinate ester

Empty fruit bunch (EFB) is the main producer to a large amount of lignocellulosic waste. It is a crop that is bountifully accessible in Malaysia. This project was designed to make better use of the waste products. EFB was used as the raw material for preparing a new solid catalyst for the manufacture of biofuel additives. EFB-derived solid acid catalyst was used to catalyze the esterification levulinic acid (LA) with Ethanol in biodiesel processing. Solid acid catalyst was prepared by infusing EFB fibre with transition metal sulfides by direct impregnation, Fe2(SO4)3 [1].The heterogeneous acid catalyst derived from the EFB fiber was used for esterification of LA. Using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and electron dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analysis, the structural, chemical, morphological and elemental properties of the catalyst were therefore examined. Meanwhile each catalyst's acidity properties were characterized through acid density test. The prepared catalyst, packed with Fe2(SO4)3, presented an average acid density of up to 3.047 mmol/g. Furthermore, the catalytic activity of the heterogeneous acid catalyst was further evaluated by esterification of LA at varying catalyst loadings of 10%, 15% and 20% at reaction temperatures of 70 ° C for 5 hours. The greatest possible catalytic activity with an esterification rate of 95.988% was accomplished with catalyst loading of 15%. The levulinate ester (LE) was then characterized using Gas Chromatography (GC).