Biodiesel Production from Rice Bran Oil over Modified Natural Zeolite Catalyst

The purpose of this study is to develop natural zeolite impregnated with potassium nitrate (KNO₃) as a heterogenous catalyst for the transesteri?cation of rice bran oil (RBO) in order to produce Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME). We conducted the Nitrogen adsorption-desorption method, Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FT-IR) spectrometer, and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis in order to characterize the physicochemical properties of the modified natural zeolite catalysts. We investigated the influences of RBO to methanol mole ratio in the range of 1:6 to 1:12. The variation of natural zeolite catalyst amount performed, also, at 1, 2.5, 5 and 10 wt. % of RBO. Moreover, the reaction temperatures were varied at room temperature (32°C), 60°C and 67.5°C. The highest biodiesel yield was 83.2% which was obtained at a ratio of 1:12 RBO to methanol mole, an amount of modified natural zeolite catalyst of 10 wt.% of RBO and a reaction temperature of 67.5°C. In order to study the reusability of modified natural zeolite catalyst, three successive transesteri?cation reactions were carried out using the same reaction conditions.

Biodiesel; Catalyst; Natural zeolite; Potassium; Rice bran oil (RBO)

In order to study and optimize the reaction conditions, the transesterification reaction of RBO using K/NZ catalysts were conducted by varying many parameters such as reaction temperature, RBO to methanol mole ratio, and catalyst amount. The optimal conditions were reaction temperature of 67.5°C, RBO to methanol mole ratio of 1:12, and catalyst amount of wt.5%. RBO. Under the obtained optimum conditions, the biodiesel yield was 83.2%. This indicated that potassium supported on natural zeolite (the K/NZ catalyst) could be used as a catalyst for the transesteri?cation of RBO. The K/NZ catalyst could be reused up to 3 times for esterification reactions; however, this reduced the biodiesel yield to 52.3%.

The authors would like to thank the Direktorat Jenderal Penguatan Riset dan Pengembangan, Direktorat Riset dan Pengabdian Masyarakat, Kemenristekdikti, Indonesia for financial support through the Penelitian Strategis Nasional Institusi 2017 research grant.

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