Synthesis and characterization of metal sulfates loaded palm empty fruit bunch for biodiesel production
Biodiesel has been globally accepted as a green substitute for diesel fuel. It is obtained from renewable sources such as vegetable oils and animal fats. Recently, the application of edible sources in the production of biodiesel has caused a lot of debate due to the insecurity of food. The altern...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English English English |
| Published: |
2021
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/6436/1/24p%20RAHILA%20ISHFAQ.pdf http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/6436/2/RAHILA%20ISHFAQ%20COPYRIGHT%20DECLARATION.pdf http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/6436/3/RAHILA%20ISHFAQ%20WATERMARK.pdf |
| Summary: | Biodiesel has been globally accepted as a green substitute for diesel fuel. It is obtained
from renewable sources such as vegetable oils and animal fats. Recently, the
application of edible sources in the production of biodiesel has caused a lot of debate
due to the insecurity of food. The alternative feasible technique is the use of inedible
and low-grade sources such as palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD). Although it could be
the answer to more economic biodiesel, its high free fatty acid (FFA) content causes
biodiesel production commercially unfavorable when homogeneous catalysts are used.
Hence, the development and use of heterogeneous acid catalysts, obtained from
biomass waste are most economically viable to produce biodiesel from low-grade
feedstocks. In this work, the production of biodiesel (FAME) from PFAD using solid
acid catalysts (SACs) derived from palm empty fruit bunch (PEFB) is investigated.
The SACs were synthesized through impregnation of different metal sulfate
precursors, i.e. ferrous sulfate heptahydrate (FeSO4.7H2O), copper sulfate
pentahydrate (CuSO4.5H2O) and magnesium sulfate heptahydrate (MgSO4.7H2O)
over PEFB. Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy
(SEM-EDX) observations found that impregnation-calcination resulted in attachment
of sulfur (S) and improved surface porosity. Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FT-IR)
showed that there were different interactions between metal sulfates and PEFB. X-Ray
Diffraction (XRD) found that the synthesized SACs have a crystalline structure. FePEFB
catalyst showed the highest acid density (2.44 mmol/g) among the catalysts
studied. In order to evaluate the catalytic performance of the catalysts, the
esterification of PFAD was carried out. Finally, optimization of process variables was
conducted to study the effect of methanol : PFAD molar ratio, catalyst dosage, reaction
temperature and reaction time on FFA conversion (%). Maximum FFA conversion of
89.13% was obtained over Fe-PEFB at 14:1 methanol : PFAD molar ratio, 7 wt.%
catalyst dosage, at 70 °C and 6 hours of reaction time. Thus, the present study offers a
sustainable and environmentally benign method for biodiesel production. |
|---|