Converting of kesambi ( Schleichera oleosa l.) oil into biodiesel using ZnO-based solid acid catalyst

Alumina-supported zinc oxide-copper oxide (ZnO-CuO/γ-Al2O3) solid catalyst which coded ZCA and zinc oxide with multi-walled carbon nanotube support (ZnO/MWCNTs) coded by ZCNT catalyst have been successfully synthesized and used to produce biodiesel from Kesambi (Schleichera olesosa l.) oil. The catalyst was synthesized using a combination of precipitation and impregnation method based on a modified Stober gel-based process. Before being used for transesterification of kesambi oil, ZCA and ZCNT catalyst was characterized using N2 adsorption-desorption followed by Brunauer-Emmett Teller (BET) calculation and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analysis. The transesterification process was conducted in a glass batch-type reactor with refluxed methanol. The effect of loading ZnO (wt.% to catalyst support) on the yield of biodiesel was investigated. The results showed that the catalyst of ZCA was potentially used for the transesterification of kesambi oil. The highest biodiesel yield above 80% was achieved after 3 hours of transesterification.