The present study juxtaposes for the first time the heterogeneous
methanolysis of gmelina oil over KNO3 activated MgO-ZnO with a NaOH
base methanolysis for biodiesel production. The conditions for biodiesel
production such as temperature, reaction time, NaOH (or KNO3 dose)
and methanol-gmelina oil ratio were optimised. The 4%w/w KNO3 activated
MgO-ZnO afforded high biodiesel yield (71.5 %) at 65oC predominantly
consisting of C13-C25 cuts of linear fatty acid methyl esters (FAME). This heterogeneous
catalyst was characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive
X-ray (EDX) analyser, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform
infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Gas-chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS)
revealed the selectivity to petroselinic
acid methyl ester. The fuel properties of the biodiesel and its blends were consistent with
standards. Relatively, the NaOH process yielded higher biodiesel (96.8%) at 60oC,
90 min, 1.2 % NaOH and 9:1 methanol-oil ratio.
Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company (KRPC), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)
Primary Language | English |
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Subjects | Chemical Engineering |
Journal Section | Articles |
Authors | |
Publication Date | October 20, 2019 |
Submission Date | December 3, 2018 |
Acceptance Date | July 30, 2019 |
Published in Issue | Year 2019 Volume: 6 Issue: 3 |