ABSTRACT

Due to the problems associated with fossil fuels, alternative sources of energy like bio fuels are being explored and continually developed. This thesis is focused on producing biodiesel, a type of biofuel through transesterification from palm kernel oil by developing an effective bi-functional heterogeneous catalyst for the reaction and utilizing an optimization tool (RSM) during the experimental phase. The catalyst was produced by impregnating a mixture of palm kernel shell biochar and CuSO₄ with calcined snail shell in the ratio 1:9 (14.8g biochar/CuSO4 : 133g snail shell). The   produced catalyst was characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with X-ray fluorescent (XRF) equipped with energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) analysis. The effect of some factors affecting the transesterification reaction were investigated in this study and the optimization of the process was carried using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) resulting in an optimum biodiesel yield of 93.12% at a temperature of 60°C, Methanol to oil ratio of 15:1, and catalyst loading of 3 wt.%.