A Guinea Fowl Eggshells Derived Calcium Oxide Catalyst for Transesterification of Coconut Oil

Abstract

The exponential rise in world population, the depletion of fossil fuels resources, and the severe environmental consequence of petroleum-based fuels have initiated an enormous search for renewable fuel as a substitute for petroleum fuel. In line with that, this study reports the use of a calcium oxide catalyst derived from waste guinea fowl eggshells in the transesterification of coconut oil for biodiesel production. The calcium oxide catalyst was prepared through the calcination of the eggshell at 950 oC for three hours and then characterized by Fourier Transform Infra-Red FTIR and basic back titration methods. The activity of the catalyst was evaluated in the transesterification of coconut oil with methanol by varying the reaction conditions to optimize the biodiesel conversion. The catalyst’s Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) analysis revealed a peak equivalent to the Ca-O bond at 665 cm-1, indicating eggshell conversion into CaO. This is justified by the appearance of a Ca(OH)2 peak around 3640 cm−1due to surface water attached to Ca2+. While to the basic back titration yielded a value of 2.933 mmol/g, indicating a high number of basic sites. Consequently, the activity test for the catalyst signified that one hour reaction time, 1:18 oil to methanol molar ratio, 1% catalyst loading, and 60 oC reaction temperature gave the best yield, with a conversion of 85.81%.