Nano-magnetic catalyst CaO/NaY–Fe3O4 for biodiesel production

Nano-magnetic catalyst CaO/NaY–Fe3O4 was prepared for biodiesel process. At the first, NaY nanozeolite was synthesized by a hydrothermal method and then, the amount of zeolite was adjusted in order to obtain the zeolite/iron oxide weight ratio of 3:1. The obtained zeolite was then impregnated with CaO nanoparticles. It was found that the activity of calcium oxide catalyst increased after being supported on nanozeolite. The results showed that the catalyst was ferromagnetic, and it could be recovered by magnetic separation. Catalyst characterization was carried out by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The effects of various parameters such as the catalyst loading, the molar ratio of methanol to oil and the reaction time on the activity of catalyst were determined by the transesterification of canola oil to biodiesel. The yield of methyl esters (ME) was 95.1 over a catalyst loading of 5 wt.% (30 wt.% of CaO on magnetic NaY), 8:1 methanol to oil molar ratio, and a reaction time of 5 h at the reaction temperature of 65 °C.

Keywords:

Nano-magnetic catalyst , CaO , NaY , Transesterification , biodiesel production , canola oil