Sythesis of Biodiesel from Coconut Waste via In-situ Transesterification

Abstract

The increasing number of environmental pollution through carbon emission from combustion of fuels and the unstable fluctuation of global petroleum prices have alarmed a signal that a clean alternative energy is in urgent need. Through the past years, a lot of researches have been focusing in producing biodiesel which can be made from natural elements such as plants and recyclable materials, hence defined its renewable properties as biodegradable, sustainable and non-toxic fuel. The focuses have been varied from the variable of feedstock used, development of catalysts and different kind of methodologies for the production of biodiesel. In this study, the feasibility of biodiesel to be synthesized from a low cost feedstock which is coconut waste has been investigated. The abundance of coconut waste readily obtained from the market, restaurants and hotels were converted to a value-added fuel through an in-situ transesterification. It is found that at ratio of 12.5:1 of methanol to solid coconut waste, with reaction time of 6 hours and 5wt% of catalyst could obtain up to 90% of biodiesel content. This investigation concludes that coconut waste has the potential to be further used for synthesis of biodiesel through in-situ transesterification reaction.