T. O. Salawudeen; K. K. Salam; A. O. Arinkoola; E. O. Dada; O. O. Oniya; I. Adewale
Abstract
Utilization of locally sourced materials promote raw materials Biodiesel was produced by transesterification of palm kernel oil (PKO) with ethanol in the presence of non-synthetic heterogeneous catalyst (combination of KOH/metaKaolin). The process parameters investigated are catalyst (1-6 g), ethanol ...
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Utilization of locally sourced materials promote raw materials Biodiesel was produced by transesterification of palm kernel oil (PKO) with ethanol in the presence of non-synthetic heterogeneous catalyst (combination of KOH/metaKaolin). The process parameters investigated are catalyst (1-6 g), ethanol (10-25 wt% ethanol/%wt PKO), reaction temperature (30-120 oC) and reaction time, (60-100 min). These parameters were considered for optimization using Response Surface Methodology with Central Composite Design (CCD) for yield of biodiesel produced. The optimum yield of biodiesel of 96.00% was obtained using the optimized numerical values of 17.50% ethanol (by mass of PKO) and 3.50 g catalyst at 75.00 oC for 80.00 min. The viscosity (4.84 mm2/s), specific gravity (0.86), pour point (+5.00 oC), flash point (178.00 oC), and cloud point (+8.00 oC) of the biodiesel obtained at optimum condition compared favorably with ASTM standards. It was inferred from the research that biodiesel with suitable fuel properties can be produced from PKO using non-synthetic KOH impregnated on Kaolin with ethanol extracted from agricultural based raw materials.