Abstract
This study investigates the effect of zeolite nano-catalyst on the yield of biodiesel and biochar formed from the pyrolysis of tallow (cow fat). Residual waste cow fat was pyrolyzed in a fixed-bed reactor of laboratory-scale volume 2200 cm3, at operating temperatures of 450, 500, 530, and 580 °C and heating rates of 4, 5, and 6 °C/min. The molecular composition of cow fat was analyzed using a gas chromatography molecular spectrograph (GC-MS). It was observed that the biodiesel produced without a catalyst was mainly composed of aromatic carboxylic acids, esters, alkanes, alkenes, and alkanes, while the biodiesel produced with zeolite nano-catalyst consisted mainly of methyl esters, pentanoic acid, heptanoic acid, cyclo-olefins, 4,4-dimethylcyclohexene, butyl-cyclohexane, butyl-cyclopentane, and 1-pentylcyclopentene. A biodiesel yield of 58% was achieved when a 1% zeolite nano-catalyst was used to pyrolyze the tallow at an operating temperature of 530 °C and heating rate of 6 °C/min. When the tallow was pyrolyzed without a zeolitic catalyst, decarboxylation was promoted, and a higher biodiesel yield of 82.78 wt% was achieved. Results from this study revealed that although zeolite nano-catalyst did not show an incremental effect on the yield of biodiesel, it favors biogas production and biochar formation.
Highlights
The growing energy demand, population growth, and economic developments, worsened by the fast exhaustion of fossil fuel sources have necessitated a need to replenish energy sources with clean and renewable energy options to achieve sustainable development [1,2,3,4]
The main objective of this study is to investigate the effect of zeolite nano-catalyst (Zeolite- 96096) on the yield of biodiesel, biogas, and biochar formed during the pyrolysis of cow fat for biodiesel production
A freezer was used to store the cow fat at À10 C in the course of the experiments, while commercially available nano-catalyst with product number 96096 manufactured by Sigma Aldrich South Africa, and molar composition: 0.6 K2O: 4.0 Na2O: 1 Al2O3: 2.0 "0.1 SiO2: x H2O and the particle size
Summary
The growing energy demand, population growth, and economic developments, worsened by the fast exhaustion of fossil fuel sources have necessitated a need to replenish energy sources with clean and renewable energy options to achieve sustainable development [1,2,3,4]. To achieve sustainable development in the environment, researchers have suggested biomass as an attractive supplement to fossil fuels because of its negligible Sulphur, nitrogen, and ash content, which leads to lower emissions of SO2, NOx, and soot compared to conventional fossil fuels [5, 6]. There is a need to consider other non-plant sources of biomass (for example cow fat) for the production of biodiesel. Biodiesel is a fuel that comprises several mono-alkyl esters of long-chain fatty acids derived from vegetable oils or animal fats [10]. Biodiesel can be produced via the trans-esterification of vegetable oils, animal fats, or waste oil and methanol with a catalyst to produce Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME). The major advantage of biodiesel as a fuel compared to conventional Petro-diesel fuel is its reduced exhaust emissions, high flash point, and renewable sources. Biodiesel has a higher oxygen content than Petro-diesel fuel; when it is used in diesel engines, there is a reduction in particulate emissions, carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur, polyaromatic compound formation, smoke, and noise
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