Soybean Oil Biodiesel Production using Renewable Catalyst Synthesized from Guinea Fowl Eggshells

Abstract

Abstract The need for a sustainable energy has given rise to the search for a renewable source of energy. This research study presents the production of soybean oil biodiesel using synthesized guinea fowl eggshell catalyst (renewable catalyst). The catalyst preparation involves calcination at 850 °C for 3 hours in a muffle furnace. It was characterized using X-Ray Flourescence (XRF) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Biodiesel was produced using 3-8 wt % of calcined catalyst within a time range of 1-2 hour, methanol/oil ratio of 0.25-0.5 w/w%. The highest biodiesel yield was 87.6% at optimum conditions of 8 wt%, 1.5 hours and 0.25 w/w% for catalyst amount, reaction time and methanol/oil ratio respectively. The biodiesel produced validates the successful synthesis of the guinea fowl eggshell into CaO. Biodiesel was then characterized to determine the acid value, flash point, cetane number, specific gravity, density, iodine value and kinematic viscosity. The characterization result of the biodiesel synthesized by using the guinea fowl eggshell catalyst produced showed that the biodiesel produced compares favorably with ASTMD standards.