Abstract
The world is currently faced with the depletion of fossil fuel energy sources and their use is associated with environmental pollution. This has triggered the need to seek alternative energy sources that are renewable, sustainable and environmentally benign. Biodiesel, an alternative fuel of interest, is obtainable from biomass feedstocks. In existing biodiesel fuel, there are concerns that it is a contaminant due to its elemental contents, which over time also affect its quality. This study aimed to investigate the influence of a bifunctional catalyst on the conversion of free fatty acids and the elemental composition of biodiesel obtained from waste oils of sunflower and palm feedstocks. The synthesised catalyst was characterised using BET, XRD, FTIR and SEM while ICP-OES and Rancimat were used for elemental contents and oxidation in feedstocks and biodiesels. The effect of Cu, Zn and Fe metals on the stability of synthesised biodiesel was further studied. The catalyst showed characteristics of bifunctionality with improved textural properties necessary for the conversion of high free fatty acids feedstocks to biodiesel, despite increasing Ca content within the produced biodiesel. Sunflower biodiesel showed superior fuel quality, although palm biodiesel had more oxidation stability. An increase in the concentration of metals decreased the induction period, with Cu and Fe being more effective than Zn metal.
Highlights
Global primary energy demand is set to experience an annual increase of 1.46% from 2009 to 2035 [1]
The catalyst was found to be suitable for the conversion of oils with a high free fatty acids (FFA) such as waste cooking oils
The quality was highly influenced by the molecular structure, the chain length and the degree of saturation in the feedstock used for biodiesel production
Summary
Global primary energy demand is set to experience an annual increase of 1.46% from 2009 to 2035 [1]. This is not surprising, as industrialisation has grown significantly with a rise in the global population to 7.3 billion in 2015, which is projected to further grow to 9.2 billion in 2040 [2]. CO2 emissions globally [7,8], with 73% of this contribution made by road transport [9], while the contribution from fuel combustion increases by 1.6% per year [1]. The substitute must be eco-friendly and a viable energy-generating fuel [16]
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