Synthesis, Characterization, and Evaluation Study on Transesterification of Solid Acid Catalysts Derived from Waste Banana Trunks for Biodiesel Production

Lim, Wai Suen (2025) Synthesis, Characterization, and Evaluation Study on Transesterification of Solid Acid Catalysts Derived from Waste Banana Trunks for Biodiesel Production. Final Year Project (Bachelor), Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology.

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Abstract

In recent years, with energy resources getting exhausted and worldwide demand for energy rising, it is imperative to discover environmentally friendly sources of energy. Yet, burning fossil fuels releases greenhouse gases that have a negative impact on the environment. As a renewable energy source, biodiesel has several benefits against fossil fuels, including the capacity to be produced from many kinds of feedstocks, reduced emissions of air pollutants, recyclability, and reusability. Biomass feedstock can be utilized for biodiesel production and the waste disposal issue can be eliminated indirectly. Transesterification is employed as it is a cost-effective approach to manufacturing biodiesel under mild reaction conditions. In addition, the implementation of heterogeneous catalysts can significantly enhance biodiesel yield and reduce production costs as it is reusable and recyclable. In this research study, it is aimed to synthesize banana trunks derived sulfonated solid acid catalyst at various temperature which are 200 oC, 400 oC, and 600 oC. Sulfonation reaction was conducted at 80 oC for 18 hours and the physicochemical properties of the synthesized sulfonated solid acid catalysts were studied and characterized by using different analytical techniques including Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), and determination of total acid density. Furthermore, the effects of various temperature of the sulfonated solid acid catalysts will be evaluated through the catalytic activity on transesterification reaction with oleic acid. As a result, sulfonated solid acid catalyst prepared at 400 oC gave highest biodiesel yield which is 21.05 % under the transesterification conditions of temperature at 85 oC for 2 hours and with 20:1 MeOH/OA molar ratio and 1 g sulfonated solid acid catalyst. The esterified product was further analyzed by GC-MS to ensure the conversion of OA to FAME and the FAME content in the esterified product.