Preparation of Heterogeneous CaO Catalysts for Biodiesel Production

Abstract

The objective of this research was to develop heterogeneous catalysts from three CaO sources for biodiesel synthesis. The CaO catalyst were prepared from limestone, calcium hydroxide and calciun carbonate with thermal processing in a muffle furnace at 900°C.. The results showed that CaO catalyst from limestone has better characteristic than catalyst from Calcium Hydroxide and Calcium Carbonate. From morphology testing, the CaO catalyst derived from limestone formed a crystal, while The X-ray difraction analysis showed that the amount of CaO contained in limestone was the highest among the others. The yield of biodiesel obtained from the experiment was 89.98% for the catalyst from limestone; 85.15% for the catalyst Ca (OH)2; and 78.71% for CaCO3 catalyst.