Fast Rate Production of Biodiesel from Neem Seed Oil Using a Catalyst Made from Banana Peel Ash Loaded with Metal Oxide (Li‐CaO/Fe₂ (SO₄)₃)

Abstract

Biodiesel is a possible remedy to the present toxic, finite sources and ever-diminishing crude fuels. Nonedible and locally available (Azadirachta indica) neem seed oil (NSO) as a second-generation feedstock was transformed into biodiesel using calcined banana ash (CBA) derived from banana peels blended with lithium calcium oxide iron (III) sulphate Li-CaO/Fe2 (SO4)3 catalyzed transesterification. Transesterification process was employed to minimize the free fatty acid (FFA) content of NSO to afford 99.8% yield under the condition of the reaction oil/methanol ratio 8 : 1, followed by addition of 1.7%wt calcined banana peels ash and 1.3%wt Li-CaO/Fe2(SO4)3 catalysts in 53 min, a notable time. It is important to note that the physicochemical properties of biodiesel in this study such as initial boiling points, flash point, pour point, cloud point, density, kinematic viscosity, final boiling points, and cetane index met ASTM D-6751 and EN 14214 standards. Decomposition profile of CBA was displayed by thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), whereas in-depth analysis by scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (X-RF), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) revealed that the high efficiency displayed by a catalyst from banana ash calcined at 650°C was due to the presence of potassium carbonate (K2CO3), a calcium magnesium silicate (CaMgSiO4), and potassium sodium sulphate (KNaSO4) contents that accounted for the high basicity of up to 11.09. Additionally, the nitrogen adsorption/desorption studies revealed that CBA interestingly exhibits a high BET surface area of 411.2 m2/g and promising mesopores (3.014 nm). The catalyst also displayed better recyclability evidenced by the fact that it was able to be reused after five successive runs with better recyclability of 75%. Based on the aforementioned properties, this work, therefore, opens an avenue for developing a supreme heterogeneous catalyst from available banana peels ash.

Waste Passion Fruit Peel as a Heterogeneous Catalyst for Room-Temperature Biodiesel Production

“…The further decrease of 45.9% was observed at below 700 °C mainly due to the oxidation of the carbonaceous material present in the catalyst releasing carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide . The last degradation, 700–1001 °C, corresponds to a 7.3% weight loss apparently due to decomposition of the metal oxides . Therefore, the calcination temperature of the WPFP was set to 400 °C as presumably pectic polysaccharide as the main component of WPFP (60–70%) has decomposed and the carbonaceous compounds such as K 2 CO 3 which have a similar catalytic activity with the homogeneous basic catalyst reside in WPFP .…”

“…The last degradation, 700–1001 °C, corresponds to a 7.3% weight loss apparently due to decomposition of the metal oxides . Therefore, the calcination temperature of the WPFP was set to 400 °C as presumably pectic polysaccharide as the main component of WPFP (60–70%) has decomposed and the carbonaceous compounds such as K 2 CO 3 which have a similar catalytic activity with the homogeneous basic catalyst reside in WPFP . Furthermore, Vadery et al (2014) concluded that calcination temperature above 400 °C did not affect the biodiesel conversion using calcined coconut husk ash as the catalyst .…”

“…In total, the biodiesel conversion decreased by 63% after the fifth experiment. This was presumably due to the leaching of catalysts causing a reduction in the active site. , To prove it, the leaching study had been conducted using 1 g of catalyst which was stirred at room temperature for 30 min with 20 mL of methanol. After filtration and drying, the catalyst weight reduced to 22 ± 0.02% proving that the catalyst was leached.…”

“…27 Therefore, the calcination temperature of the WPFP was set to 400 °C as presumably pectic polysaccharide as the main component of WPFP (60−70%) 25 has decomposed and the carbonaceous compounds such as K 2 CO 3 which have a similar catalytic activity with the homogeneous basic catalyst reside in WPFP. 27 Furthermore, Vadery et al (2014) concluded that calcination temperature above 400 °C did not affect the biodiesel conversion using calcined coconut husk ash as the catalyst. 12 The appearance of carbonate groups was identified by the FT-IR spectra (Figure 1B) which showed characteristic stretching and bending vibration of C−O from potassium carbonate at peaks of 1654, 1386, and 1110 cm −1 .…”

Assessment of Physicochemical and Fatty Acids Composition of Crude Seed Oil Extract of Azadirachta indica Adr. Juss. for its potential in Biodiesel Production

“…The species has been reported to have significant medicinal uses, as anti-dermatophytes, malaria, asthma, and intestinal worms (Nde et al, 2015), as well as other useful industrial utilizations (Syndia et al, 2015). Some efforts have been made to incorporate the seed oil extracts of this plant in biodiesels (Banu et al, 2018;Madai et al, 2020). The present study, therefore assesses the physico-chemical and fatty acid compositions of crude seed oil extracts of Azadirachta indica as potential biodiesel and industrial substrate.…”