Abstract
The present study juxtaposes for the first time the heterogeneous methanolysis of gmelina oil over KNO3 activated MgO-ZnO with a NaOH base methanolysis for biodiesel production. The conditions for biodiesel production such as temperature, reaction time, NaOH (or KNO3 dose) and methanol-gmelina oil ratio were optimised. The 4%w/w KNO3 activated MgO-ZnO afforded high biodiesel yield (71.5 %) at 65oC predominantly consisting of C13-C25 cuts of linear fatty acid methyl esters (FAME). This heterogeneous catalyst was characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analyser, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Gas-chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) revealed the selectivity to petroselinic acid methyl ester. The fuel properties of the biodiesel and its blends were consistent with standards. Relatively, the NaOH process yielded higher biodiesel (96.8%) at 60oC, 90 min, 1.2 % NaOH and 9:1 methanol-oil ratio.
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