article · Results in Engineering
Biodiesel was produced from waste cooking oil using a bifunctional heterogeneous catalyst derived from waste eggshells and ferric sulfate. Waste eggshells were calcined at 800 degrees Celsius to produce calcium oxide, which was then impregnated with ferric sulfate in an equal ratio. The resulting catalyst contained calcium, iron, sulfur, and oxygen, forming distinct crystalline phases. In a one-pot reaction between waste cooking oil and methanol, a maximum biodiesel yield of 89.94 weight percent was reached in 45 minutes at 70 degrees Celsius, using a five to one methanol to oil molar ratio and four weight percent catalyst. Optimisation was supported by Taguchi orthogonal array design. The catalyst demonstrated reusability across four cycles without additional treatment. The finished biodiesel satisfied standard fuel specifications, showing the catalyst can process feedstocks with moderately high free fatty acid content.
Producing biofuels from waste cooking oil reduces reliance on fossil fuels and lowers waste management burdens. However, processing low-grade oils typically requires costly or complex catalysts. Transforming discarded eggshells into an effective, reusable catalyst provides an affordable and circular method to refine waste oils with moderately high free fatty acids into standard-compliant fuel for diesel engines.
This process is relevant to biofuel producers and waste management organisations looking to lower production costs by converting food waste into catalytic materials. The research represents an applied and tested laboratory-scale process demonstrating one-pot synthesis and four-cycle catalyst reusability. Moving toward commercialisation would require pilot testing, confirming catalyst durability under continuous operations, and establishing reliable collection streams for eggshell waste.
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Improvement in biofuel synthesis technology could facilitate widespread utilization of biodiesel, and an efficient operation in terms of cost. Catalyst enhancement through mineralization of waste biogenic material is vital for biodiesel production. In this study, biodiesel production was from waste cooking oil (WCO) using a bifunctional catalyst synthesized from waste eggshells and ferric sulfate. The CaO precursor developed from calcined eggshell at 800 °C for 3 h was impregnated with ferric sulfate at a ratio of 1:1. The Bifunctional catalyst synthesized was characterized using an X-ray diffractometer, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis. The bifunctional catalyst was applied in a one-pot reaction of WCO and methanol to produce biodiesel. The reaction was modeled using the Taguchi orthogonal array design to maximize biodiesel production. The heterogeneous catalyst contained Ca (20.7 %), Fe (18.5 %), S (4.5 %), and O (54.8 %). The identified crystalline phases are CaSO4/Fe2O3 and CaSO4.0.5H2O/Fe2O3. A maximum biodiesel yield of 89.94 wt% was observed under the operating conditions of methanol/oil molar of 5:1, time of 45 min, temperature of 70 °C, and catalyst amount of 4 wt%. The reusability of the catalyst was established for (four) 4 cycles without further treatment. The synthesized biodiesel met the standard specifications. Hence, the synthesized catalyst proved effective in the transesterification of oil with a moderately high free fatty acid, thereby the bifunctional catalyst could expedite biodiesel production from waste cooking oil, and this biofuel could serve as fuel in powering diesel engines.
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DOI: 10.1016/j.rineng.2024.102613
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