Abstract
Transesterification of sunflower oil was carried out over CaO loaded onto γ-Al2O3 as heterogeneous base catalysts. The solid base catalysts were synthesized by the modified wet impregnation of calcium acetate monohydrate onto neutral γ-Al2O3, calcined at different temperatures in an inert atmosphere and characterized by FESEM, XRPD and FTIR techniques. The catalyst containing 5.5 wt. % CaO supported on γ-Al2O3 calcined at 700°C exhibited the highest FAME yield at mild reaction conditions (60°C, atmospheric pressure, methanol-to-oil molar ratio of 9:1 and 0.51% of active species-CaO by weight of oil). The best CaO/γ-Al2O3 catalyst showed a similar or lower catalytic activity than some other CaO-based catalysts at a smaller amount of the catalyst (at least two times less than in other studies).
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call