CaO/Natural Dolomite as a Heterogeneous Catalyst for Biodiesel Production

Abstract

In the present study, the CaO/Natural Dolomite as a heterogeneous catalyst was applied to synthesize biodiesel from coconut oil. The physico-characteristics of CaO/Natural Dolomite catalyst were determined using X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-Ray Fluorescence, and porosity analysis (specific surface area, average pore size diameter and total pore volume). The performance of CaO/Natural Dolomite catalyst was examined in a batch reactor for transesterification reaction of coconut oil with methanol. From the experiments, the optimum process conditions were achieved at a 60°C of reaction temperature, a 5 wt.% of catalyst amount, and 6 : 1 of methanol to coconut oil mass ratio. The CaO/Natural Dolomite catalyst exhibits high catalytic activity and reliable to be applied in biodiesel synthesis as a heterogeneous base catalyst.