Utilization of Avocado Seed Waste as Raw Material for Producing Biodiesel with CaO Catalyst from Eggshell

Abstract

Avocado is one of the plants that thrives in the tropical area such as Indonesia. Avocados produce waste in the form of avocado seeds because it is less used. The oil from avocado seeds contains triglyceride as raw materials in biodiesel synthesis. Biodiesel is an alternative diesel oil from the transesterification of vegetable oils or animal fats with the addition of catalyst. The objective of this study was to utilize avocado seed waste as raw material in the production of biodiesel and eggshell waste as source of CaO catalyst. The various effect of reaction conditions, such as methanol-to-oil molar ratio (3:1–12:1), reaction time (30–120 min), and amount of catalyst loading (1–7% wt) were investigated. Catalyst reusability was also studied. Result showed that the highest biodiesel oil was obtained from reaction with the condition of 6:1 methanol-to-oil ratio, 60 min reaction time, 5% wt amount of catalyst loading, and the catalyst can be reused up to 3 reaction cycles with the yield above 75%. The physico-chemical properties of biodiesel produced met the SNI standar of biodiesel quality.