Transesterification of kesambi oil (Schleichera oleosa l.) using nano ZnO-CuO/γ-alumina solid catalyst

Abstract

Nano alumina-supported zinc oxide-copper oxide (ZnO-CuO/γ-Al2O3) solid catalyst that is coded by NZCA, has been successfully synthesized and used to produce biodiesel from Kesambi (Schleichera olesosa l.) oil (KO). The catalyst was synthesized using a combination of precipitation, impregnation, and gel process. Before being used for transesterification of kesambi oil, NZCA catalyst was characterized using the X-ray diffraction (X-RD), Brunauer-Emmett Teller (BET), and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) methods. The transesterification process was conducted in a glass batch type reactor with refluxed methanol. The effect of loading ZnO (wt.% to alumina), reaction temperature, and amount of catalyst (wt.% to kesambi oil) on the yield of biodiesel were investigated, respectively. The results showed that the catalyst of NZCA was potentially used for transesterification of kesambi oil. The highest biodiesel yield of 89.21% was achieved.