N. Nurhazanah, Y. Sy, H. Husin, C.M. Rosnelly, A. Maulana
Biodiesel production from palm oil and alcohol has been carried out using a K2O/NbOPO4 solid acid catalyst. NbOPO4 catalyst was synthesized through the sol-gel method, followed by drying and calcination at a temperature of 800°C for 6 hours. The catalyst was further treated using K2CO3 with various concentrations of 15, 25, 35, 45 and 55% through the impregnation technique. Morphology and composition of the catalyst were evaluated by SEM, EDX and XRD instruments. The results showed that the catalyst has non homogeneous particles with size ranging between 1.86 μm to 25 μm, accompanied by the agglomeration. The results of the analysis also confirmed that the prepared catalyst contains potassium, niobium, phosphorus and oxygen with a composition of 10.15; 17.67; 6.11 and 41.83%, respectively. The catalytic activity was tested in the transesterification reaction for 3 hours, at a temperature of 65°C with the molar ratio of palm oil to alcohol of 12:1 and catalyst loading of 6%. The highest yield of 98.87% was obtained on the process using the catalyst impregnated with 35% K2CO3. The overall results show that there is a very promising potential of NbOPO4 catalysts for biodiesel production. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.
Graduate School of Chemical Engineering, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh, 23111, Indonesia; Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh, 23111, Indonesia
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