Utilization of water hyacinth-based biomass as a potential heterogeneous catalyst for biodiesel production

Abstract

With the aim to reduce the negative impacts caused by the widespread of water hyacinth to the environment, this paper reports the utilization of water hyacinth as a source of biomass to fabricate a heterogeneous catalyst. The catalyst was prepared by calcinating the grounded hyacinth biomass at 600°C, and K2CO3 was then introduced as a co-catalyst through impregnation method. The properties of biodiesel were also evaluated in terms of yield and density. To better understand the impregnation effects, surface topography, particle size, and atom composition of water hyacinth catalyst with K2CO3 impregnation were analysed. The performance of the synthesized catalyst was studied for the transesterification reaction of palm oil into biodiesel. The reaction was carried out in a batch mode for 3 hours with stirring at 65°C. The molar ratio of methanol to the oil of 12:1, and the catalyst loading was 15 wt. %. The highest yield (97.57%) was obtained from the process using 15% of the hyacinth-based catalyst which impregnated with 10% of K2CO3. The biodiesel produced was in the range of the SNI standard. The water hyacinth can be a promising heterogeneous catalyst for biodiesel production at an industrial scale.