Utilization of Modified Coal Fly Ash (CFA) as a Catalyst for Production of Biodiesel from Coconut Oil: Part 1 - Characteristics of the Catalyst

Abstract

The current research studied about the utilization of modified coal fly ash (CFA) as catalyst for biodiesel production from coconut oil. Coal Fly ash (CFA) is a solid waste that is abundantly available in the coal-based power plant. Coal Fly Ash is a type of material that has high content of oxide minerals, e.g. silicates and silicate alumina. With proper physical/chemical treatment, the coal fly ash can be converted into a heterogeneous catalyst. In this work, the coal fly ash was modified with HCl and Ca(NO3)2·4H2O and used as catalyst for biodiesel production from coconut oil. This paper will focus only on the characteristics of the prepared modified CFA-based catalyst. The modified CFA-based catalyst was characterized for its crystallinity using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), determined its surface area and pore size distribution using Surface Area Analyzer, and its functional groups by Fourier Transform – Infra Red (FT-IR). The specific surface area of the catalyst (modified CFA) decreased from 28.08 m2/g to 17.54 m2/g after impregnation process of calcium oxide in the raw coal fly ash. This decrease was also accompanied by a decrease in the average pore network from 32.59 Å to 20.31 Å. Additionally, based on the XRD pattern shown, the raw CFA is composed of mostly quartz (SiO2) and mullite (3Al2O3.2SiO2) minerals, and a small portion of hematite.