NANOPARTICLE CATALYSIS: EXPLORING THE EFFECIENCY OF ZINC OXIDE AND CALCIUM OXIDE NANOPARTICLES IN BIODIESEL SYNTHESI

Abstract

Biodiesel has gained interest recently due to its environmental benefits and its production from renewable sources, offering a sustainable alternative to traditional fossil fuels. Used cooking oil, sunflower oil, coconut oil, and other types of oils serve as raw materials for biodiesel production. The main techniques for making biodiesel are pyrolysis, mixing, microemulsions, and transesterification—which is the technique that is most frequently used. High-quality biodiesel is recovered through the transesterification of oils, with glycerol remaining as a byproduct. The reaction is mostly influenced by the molar ratio of glycerides to alcohol .In addition to this catalyst, other factors that influence the reaction include water content, free fatty acids, temperature, and duration. Various investigations have been conducted with varying catalysts and raw materials. Homogenous catalysts such as sodium and potassium hydroxide and heterogenous catalysts such as lipases are two types of catalysts that are utilized for biodiesel production. Nanoparticles are also an interesting choice for biodiesel production due to the presence of high surface area and catalytic properties. In this study, we have utilized Zinc and Calcium nanoparticles in the transesterification process. Characterization of nanoparticles are performed by FTIR. The yield results of solid acid catalyst blends of trans-esterified biodiesel is compared with that of biodiesel produced without using any catalyst.