Production of biodiesel from palm oil using egg shell waste as heterogeneous catalyst

Abstract

Egg shell waste was investigated in a triglyceride transesterification with a view to determine its viability as a solid catalyst for the biodiesel production. The utilization of egg shell as a catalyst not only reduces its environmental effects, but also reduces the price of biodiesel to make it competitive with petroleum diesel. In this study, egg shell waste was ground and the powder produced was calcined at 900˚C for 4 hours in a furnace. The physical properties of the catalyst were characterized by using the Fourier Transform-infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and the biodiesel conversion was determined by the Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). 4wt% of catalyst dosage was fixed throughout the experiment. The results obtained indicated that CaO derived from egg shell waste was comparable with the commercial CaO. The maximum percentage yield of biodiesel by using derived CaO is 75.85% under optimum conditions of 6:1 methanol to oil ratio after 3 hours at 65˚C, while for commercial CaO, 74.97% yield of biodiesel with 3:1 methanol to oil ratio after 3 hours at 60˚C.