Heterogeneously catalyzed ethanolysis of groundnut crude oil using activated calcium oxide and surface-modified activated calcium oxide

Abstract

The effectiveness of bio-oils' heterogeneously-catalyzed ethanolysis, using groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) crude oil, activated calcium oxide (h-CaO), and surface-modified activated calcium oxide (s-CaO) for biodiesel production in developing countries, was studied in comparison with potassium hydroxide (KOH) and calcium hydroxide [Ca(OH)2] in terms of reaction, effect of catalyst type and loading of 1.0 wt%, molar ratio of 9:1, time ranging from 0.5 to 3.0 h, at 78°C and stirring speed of 1000 rpm. Ca(OH)2 was inferior to KOH, h-CaO and s-CaO regardless of reaction time, achieving fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEE) yields, after 0.5, 2, and 3 h, of 0.24 ± 0.03 wt%, 1.09 ± 0.72 wt%, 8.08 ± 0.80 wt% comparing 56.19 ± 1.98 wt%, 76.57 ± 2.20 wt%, 76.99 ± 4.18 wt% , and 62.32 ± 1.95 wt%, 88.81 ± 0.82 wt%, 85.30 ± 4.56 wt%, and 51.40 ± 1.76 wt%, 81.21 ± 1.30 wt%, 83.23 ± 1.09 wt%, respectively. The activity of h-CaO, s-CaO and KOH agreed quite well showing the comparable effectiveness of the catalysts on ethanolysis. Generally, yields decreased after 2-h, due to product adsorption after 2 h. We based on these results and concluded that this paper is the first to report the effectiveness of h-CaO and s-CaO for bio-oil heterogeneously catalyzed ethanolysis for sustainable biodiesel production in developing countries.