Sustainable biodiesel production from Madhuca indica oil using a functionalized industrial waste as a catalyst: Ready to scale-up approach

Abstract

The current work is about the Madhuca indica tree-based biodiesel production using copper-impregnated dolomite and industrial waste as a novel heterogeneous catalyst. The properties of the Copper@dolomite catalyst were confirmed using Energy Dispersive X-Ray Analysis (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area. For the optimization studies, the data sets were designed using the Box-Behnken method, and the optimization of reaction factors such as reaction temperature, the weight percentage of catalyst, and oil to methanol ratio and reaction time was conducted using the response surface methodology. A maximum yield of 96.1% was obtained catalyzed by Cu@dolomite for a reaction time of 6 h and a temperature of 75 °C with the methanol to oil molar ratio of 15:1 with 3 wt% of catalyst. The corresponding biodiesel yield at the fifth reuse cycle was around 92.60%. The physical properties of biodiesel are within the ASTM D 6751 limits and can be used for industrial applications. Techno-Economic analysis was performed using Aspen Plus simulation software for a plant capacity of 1000 kg/h and its results were discussed in detail. From the results, it was known that it is technically and economically feasible to produce biodiesel from Madhuca indica oil.