Synthesis of Solid Catalyst from Palm Empty Fruit Bunch for Production of Biodiesel through Esterification

Abstract

Application of solid acid catalyst in biodiesel production gains much attention from researchers as it is suitable for most of the non-edible and low value oils which will significantly cut down the total production cost and reduce corrosion issue. In this research, biomass from palm empty fruit bunch is used as the carbon precursor to synthesis activated carbon (AC) before sulfonated by 4-benzenediazonium sulfonate (4-BDS) to produce solid acid catalyst. The synthesized catalysts were characterized and the performances were tested in esterification of palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD) to produce biodiesel. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) showed that a clear porous and rough surface was developed after calcination at relative low temperature (200 ° C) which favors the attachment of the acid active site. It also found that that the total acid sites of the catalyst increased when sulfanilic acid loading increased during sulfonation. In catalytic activity test, the result showed that catalyst calcined at 200 ° C and catalyst sulfonated with 15:1 sulfanilic acid to AC ratio was the optimum catalyst as they gave the highest biodiesel yield at 73.14%.