A green method to produce biodiesel from palm olein oil


Citation

Pannilawithana Nuwan A., . and Pathirana Hema M. K. K., . A green method to produce biodiesel from palm olein oil. pp. 267-277. ISSN 1511-2780

Abstract

The current transesterification method to produce biodiesel from palm oil uses NaOH as the homogeneous catalyst. NaOH has several disadvantages. It is corrosive can not be reused and separation from biodiesel is time-consuming. The objective of the present work was to replace NaOH with a greener and efficient heterogeneous catalyst calcium diglyceroxide. The potential contamination of biodiesel by Ca2 was minimised by incorporating Na2CO3 into the transesterification mixture. The work aimed to identify the optimum reaction conditions which would minimise the production cost of biodiesel complying with the quality prescribed by ASTM standards. Optimum conditions were oil: methanol ratio of 1:6 (molar) catalyst 0.2 (w/w oil) Na2CO3 2.5 (w/w oil) and 3 hr reaction period at 65C. The yield was 92.2. All the studied properties of biodiesel except kinematic viscosity conformed with recommended levels by ASTM. Reusing the catalyst which was used twice previously increased the biodiesel yield from 92.2 to 94.3. The production of good quality biodiesel from palm olein by this novel method is greener. It is more efficient because the catalyst is not corrosive and easy to separate. Also the catalyst can be reused at least twice thus minimising the amounts of chemicals used.


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Abstract

The current transesterification method to produce biodiesel from palm oil uses NaOH as the homogeneous catalyst. NaOH has several disadvantages. It is corrosive can not be reused and separation from biodiesel is time-consuming. The objective of the present work was to replace NaOH with a greener and efficient heterogeneous catalyst calcium diglyceroxide. The potential contamination of biodiesel by Ca2 was minimised by incorporating Na2CO3 into the transesterification mixture. The work aimed to identify the optimum reaction conditions which would minimise the production cost of biodiesel complying with the quality prescribed by ASTM standards. Optimum conditions were oil: methanol ratio of 1:6 (molar) catalyst 0.2 (w/w oil) Na2CO3 2.5 (w/w oil) and 3 hr reaction period at 65C. The yield was 92.2. All the studied properties of biodiesel except kinematic viscosity conformed with recommended levels by ASTM. Reusing the catalyst which was used twice previously increased the biodiesel yield from 92.2 to 94.3. The production of good quality biodiesel from palm olein by this novel method is greener. It is more efficient because the catalyst is not corrosive and easy to separate. Also the catalyst can be reused at least twice thus minimising the amounts of chemicals used.

Additional Metadata

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Item Type: Article
AGROVOC Term: Biodiesel
AGROVOC Term: Bioenergy
AGROVOC Term: Biofuels
AGROVOC Term: Filtering
AGROVOC Term: Drying
AGROVOC Term: Purification
AGROVOC Term: Washing
AGROVOC Term: Boiling
AGROVOC Term: Distilled water
AGROVOC Term: Kinematics
Depositing User: Ms. Suzila Mohamad Kasim
Last Modified: 24 Apr 2025 06:28
URI: http://webagris.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/24156

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