Biodiesel production from Calophyllum inophyllum L oil using Microwave with Calcium Carbonate catalyst

Abstract

Biodiesel has become a promising renewable energy resource in recent years due mainly to the fluctuating global oil prices. Calophyllum inophyllum L seed has fairly high oil content of about 40-73 % by weight, thus, making it a great potential as raw material for producing biodiesel. This paper aims to study the effect of the microwave irradiation for biodiesel production from Calophyllum inophyllum L oil when solid CaCO3 catalysts made from waste eggshells and synthetic were employed. Furthermore, the effects of operating conditions, including reaction time, microwave power, and amount of catalyst loading were also investigated. The initial step to produce Calophyllum inophyllum L biodiesel was degumming process, followed by the esterification and trans-esterification, respectively. The catalysts used are CaCO3 synthetic and eggshell. The results of production biodiesel from Calophyllum inophyllum L oil give the highest yield of 65.36 % when performed with the microwave power of 300 Watt, 1 % eggshell catalyst and the reaction time of 10 minutes. Therefore, Calophyllum inophyllum L shown as potential biodiesel feedstock.