Microwave-assisted biodiesel synthesis from waste cooking oil: Exploring the potential of carob pod-derived solid base catalyst

This work examined the potency of carob (Ceratonia siliqua) pod as a heterogeneous base catalyst for converting waste cooking oil (WCO) into biodiesel via a microwave irradiation system. The optimal calcination for the catalyst synthesis was achieved at 500 °C for 4 h. Various analytical techniques...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Babatunde Oladipo, Sisipho Qasana, Sibabalwe C. Zini, Ntokozo Menemene, Tunde V. Ojumu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-12-01
Series:Fuel Processing Technology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378382024001310
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1846148509403709440
author Babatunde Oladipo
Sisipho Qasana
Sibabalwe C. Zini
Ntokozo Menemene
Tunde V. Ojumu
author_facet Babatunde Oladipo
Sisipho Qasana
Sibabalwe C. Zini
Ntokozo Menemene
Tunde V. Ojumu
author_sort Babatunde Oladipo
collection DOAJ
description This work examined the potency of carob (Ceratonia siliqua) pod as a heterogeneous base catalyst for converting waste cooking oil (WCO) into biodiesel via a microwave irradiation system. The optimal calcination for the catalyst synthesis was achieved at 500 °C for 4 h. Various analytical techniques were employed to investigate the properties of the developed catalyst. The results indicate that the catalyst primarily consists of mesoporous particles abundant in potassium, with medium to strong basic sites, which are crucial for its catalytic function. WCO underwent pretreatment with H2SO4 before being converted to biodiesel. Optimum conditions for the biodiesel production were a methanol-to-WCO molar ratio of 9.87, 1.00 wt% catalyst dosage, 3.03 min reaction time, 450 rpm stirring speed, and 600 W microwave power, yielding 98.20 ± 0.81 wt% biodiesel. The low specific energy consumption value of 0.91 kWh/kg and specific CO2 emission of 0.73 kg/kg of biodiesel suggest the effective utilization of microwave energy in driving the transesterification reaction and in promoting a reduction in carbon footprint, respectively. The synthesized catalyst remained effective up to the 5th production cycle and the biodiesel produced met established specifications. The results of this study show that carob pod is a suitable candidate to be included in the database of biobased catalysts currently being developed for heterogeneous catalysis of cost-effective biodiesel production.
format Article
id doaj-art-0f08d37cb4a94ee6a0f722bab4c8c41b
institution Kabale University
issn 0378-3820
language English
publishDate 2024-12-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Fuel Processing Technology
spelling doaj-art-0f08d37cb4a94ee6a0f722bab4c8c41b2024-12-01T05:06:30ZengElsevierFuel Processing Technology0378-38202024-12-01266108161Microwave-assisted biodiesel synthesis from waste cooking oil: Exploring the potential of carob pod-derived solid base catalystBabatunde Oladipo0Sisipho Qasana1Sibabalwe C. Zini2Ntokozo Menemene3Tunde V. Ojumu4Department of Chemical Engineering, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Bellville, Cape Town 7535, South AfricaDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Bellville, Cape Town 7535, South AfricaDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Bellville, Cape Town 7535, South AfricaDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Bellville, Cape Town 7535, South AfricaCorresponding author.; Department of Chemical Engineering, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Bellville, Cape Town 7535, South AfricaThis work examined the potency of carob (Ceratonia siliqua) pod as a heterogeneous base catalyst for converting waste cooking oil (WCO) into biodiesel via a microwave irradiation system. The optimal calcination for the catalyst synthesis was achieved at 500 °C for 4 h. Various analytical techniques were employed to investigate the properties of the developed catalyst. The results indicate that the catalyst primarily consists of mesoporous particles abundant in potassium, with medium to strong basic sites, which are crucial for its catalytic function. WCO underwent pretreatment with H2SO4 before being converted to biodiesel. Optimum conditions for the biodiesel production were a methanol-to-WCO molar ratio of 9.87, 1.00 wt% catalyst dosage, 3.03 min reaction time, 450 rpm stirring speed, and 600 W microwave power, yielding 98.20 ± 0.81 wt% biodiesel. The low specific energy consumption value of 0.91 kWh/kg and specific CO2 emission of 0.73 kg/kg of biodiesel suggest the effective utilization of microwave energy in driving the transesterification reaction and in promoting a reduction in carbon footprint, respectively. The synthesized catalyst remained effective up to the 5th production cycle and the biodiesel produced met established specifications. The results of this study show that carob pod is a suitable candidate to be included in the database of biobased catalysts currently being developed for heterogeneous catalysis of cost-effective biodiesel production.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378382024001310MicrowaveWaste cooking oilBiodieselCarob podsHeterogeneous catalystEnergy consumption
spellingShingle Babatunde Oladipo
Sisipho Qasana
Sibabalwe C. Zini
Ntokozo Menemene
Tunde V. Ojumu
Microwave-assisted biodiesel synthesis from waste cooking oil: Exploring the potential of carob pod-derived solid base catalyst
Fuel Processing Technology
Microwave
Waste cooking oil
Biodiesel
Carob pods
Heterogeneous catalyst
Energy consumption
title Microwave-assisted biodiesel synthesis from waste cooking oil: Exploring the potential of carob pod-derived solid base catalyst
title_full Microwave-assisted biodiesel synthesis from waste cooking oil: Exploring the potential of carob pod-derived solid base catalyst
title_fullStr Microwave-assisted biodiesel synthesis from waste cooking oil: Exploring the potential of carob pod-derived solid base catalyst
title_full_unstemmed Microwave-assisted biodiesel synthesis from waste cooking oil: Exploring the potential of carob pod-derived solid base catalyst
title_short Microwave-assisted biodiesel synthesis from waste cooking oil: Exploring the potential of carob pod-derived solid base catalyst
title_sort microwave assisted biodiesel synthesis from waste cooking oil exploring the potential of carob pod derived solid base catalyst
topic Microwave
Waste cooking oil
Biodiesel
Carob pods
Heterogeneous catalyst
Energy consumption
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378382024001310
work_keys_str_mv AT babatundeoladipo microwaveassistedbiodieselsynthesisfromwastecookingoilexploringthepotentialofcarobpodderivedsolidbasecatalyst
AT sisiphoqasana microwaveassistedbiodieselsynthesisfromwastecookingoilexploringthepotentialofcarobpodderivedsolidbasecatalyst
AT sibabalweczini microwaveassistedbiodieselsynthesisfromwastecookingoilexploringthepotentialofcarobpodderivedsolidbasecatalyst
AT ntokozomenemene microwaveassistedbiodieselsynthesisfromwastecookingoilexploringthepotentialofcarobpodderivedsolidbasecatalyst
AT tundevojumu microwaveassistedbiodieselsynthesisfromwastecookingoilexploringthepotentialofcarobpodderivedsolidbasecatalyst