Kinetics and Transesterification of the Oil Obtained from Cussonia bateri (Jansa Seed) as a Step in Biodiesel Production Using Natural Heterogeneous Catalyst

Abstract

The ongoing search for a more sustainable, renewable, and affordable fuel source has necessitated the quest and search for a better diesel. Biodiesel, an environmentally friendly diesel, has been able to solve many of the issues that have arisen as a result of the use of fossil fuels. They are mostly synthesized by transesterification of a FFA with an alcohol employing an appropriate catalyst. This study examines the use of jansa seed oil as a low-cost feedstock for biodiesel production. Transesterification of free fatty acids (FFA) with methanol and ethanol catalyzed by snail shell was used to process the biodiesel. In the biodiesel production, the alcohol to oil molar ratio was 12:1, the catalyst amount was 0.75 g, and the reaction temperature was 65°C. The reversible second-order reaction rate was used to characterize the kinetics of FFA transesterification. Kinetic modeling of the biodiesel production process was also carried out in order to determine the sequence of the reaction and estimate the reaction rate constant. The activation energy of the ethyl ester was higher than that of the methyl ester, implying that the ethyl ester would require more energy (slower reaction rate) to activate a molecule for chemical transformation. The reusability of the catalyst for continuous transesterfication runs was investigated under the same operating conditions, and the conversion of the catalyst declined from 99.6 percent to 86.4 percent after the fifth regeneration cycle. Jansa seed oil has the potential to be a valuable raw source for generating fatty oil for the use as an alternate feedstock in the production of biodiesel.