Biodiesel production from waste cooking oil using KOH/HY-type nano-catalyst derived from silica sand

Abstract

The present study aimed to synthesize a Y-nanozeolite catalyst using the hydrothermal method and Iraqi sand-derived silica as a low-cost and readily available raw material. The catalyst was tested before and after loading with potassium hydroxide (KOH). The experiments were conducted in a batch reactor under different temperatures (40, 50, and 60 °C) and a 3-h reaction time, using the prepared Y-catalyst with three different particle sizes (75, 600, and 1000 μm). The results showed that increasing the temperature and/or reaction time generally resulted in increased conversion and yield when the catalyst was unpromoted with KOH, reaching a range of 55.56% and 33.33%, respectively. However, a significant increase in the conversion and yield was observed after promoting the catalyst with 10% KOH molecules. The optimal conditions for achieving the highest conversion and yield of biodiesel were determined to be 86.67% and 82.22%, respectively. These conditions involved a temperature of 60 °C, a reaction time of 2 h, and the use of a catalyst with a particle size of 75 μm loaded with 10% KOH. The use of a heterogeneous catalyst loaded with the base in a low percentage helps to dispense with the use of homogeneous catalysts with a high percentage of bases.

Keywords:

• Catalytic transesterification reaction
• biodiesel
• alternative fuel
• KOH/HY-type nano-catalyst
• alternative nano silica

Acknowledgments

The authors thankfully acknowledge scientific support of Department of Chemical Engineering and the Nanotechnology and Advanced Material Research Center, University of Technology-Iraq, Baghdad, Iraq.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by University of Technology Sydney through Strategic Research Support funding with grant number (324100.2200034).