PREPARATION OF A HETEROGENEOUS BIFUNCTIONAL COMPOSITE CATALYST FROM TURKEY BONES AND PLANTAIN PEDUNCLE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF BIODIESEL FROM WASTE COOKING OIL (WCO)

ABSTRACT

This study was conducted to develop a new composite heterogeneous catalyst, turkey bones – plantain peduncle - Co(NO3)2 - Li2CO3 mixed oxides (TB-PP-Co(NO3)2-Li2CO3), for the production of biodiesel via transesterification of waste cooking oil. The catalyst was synthesized using an incipient wetness impregnation (IWI) method and was characterised using scanning electron microscope (SEM) coupled with energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence 33 (XRF), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET) analysis 34 and thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA)/differential thermal analysis (DTA). The effects of parameters affecting the catalytic reaction, reaction temperature (40–80 °C), reaction time (60-150 mins), catalyst loading (1–5 wt%), and methanol-to-oil ratio (6:1–15:1) were investigated. The data obtained showed that the maximum biodiesel yield of 73.8215% could be obtained at a reaction temperature of 61.101°C, reaction time of 114 mins, with a catalyst loading of 3 wt% and methanol-to-oil ratio of 6:1. The transesterification experiments were planned using a Box-Behnken design (BBD) while the response surface methodology (RSM) expert system were evaluated to assess its capacity to model and optimise the process. The results of characterisation of the catalyst indicated the suitability of the catalyst for the transesterification reaction which was attributed to the dominant elements which were Calcium (Ca), Silicon (Si), Oxygen (O) and Carbon (C).