Environmental & Nano Sciences Group

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Browsing by Subject "Biodiesel"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Fusion-assisted hydrothermal synthesis and post-synthesis modification of mesoporous hydroxy sodalite zeolite prepared from waste coal fly ash for biodiesel production
    (MDPI, 2022) Shabani, Juvet Malonda; Ameh, Alechine E.; Petrik, Leslie
    Increases in biodiesel prices remains a challenge, mainly due to the high cost of conventional oil feedstocks used during biodiesel production and the challenges associated with using homogeneous catalysts in the process. This study investigated the conversion of waste-derived black soldier fly (BSF) maggot oil feedstock over hydroxy sodalite (HS) zeolite synthesized from waste coal fly ash (CFA) in biodiesel production. The zeolite product prepared after fusion of CFA followed by hydrothermal synthesis (F-HS) resulted in a highly crystalline, mesoporous F-HS zeolite with a considerable surface area of 45 m2/g. The impact of post-synthesis modification of the parent HS catalyst (F-HS) by ion exchange with an alkali source (KOH) on its performance in biodiesel production was investigated. The parent F-HS zeolite catalyst resulted in a high biodiesel yield of 84.10%, with a good quality of 65% fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) content and fuel characteristics compliant with standard biodiesel specifications. After ion exchange, the modified HS zeolite catalyst (K/F-HS) decreased in crystallinity, mesoporosity and total surface area.
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    Low-Cost feedstock conversion to biodiesel via ultrasound technology
    (MDPI, 2009) Babajide, Omotola; Leslie, Petrik; Amigun, Bamikole; Ameer, Farouk
    Biodiesel has attracted increasing interest and has proved to be a good substitute for fossil-based fuels due to its environmental advantages and availability from renewable resources such as refined and waste vegetable oils. Several studies have shown that biodiesel is a better fuel than the fossil-derived diesel in terms of engine performance, emissions reduction, lubricity and environmental benefits. The increasing popularity of biodiesel has generated great demand for its commercial production methods, which in turn calls for the development of technically and economically sound process technologies. This paper explores the applicability of ultrasound in the optimization of low-cost feedstock – in this case waste cooking oil – in the transesterification conversion to biodiesel. It was found that the conversion efficiency of the waste oil using ultrasound was higher than with the mechanical stirring method. The optimized variables of 6:1 methanol/oil ratio at a reaction temperature of 30 °C and a reaction time of 30 min and 0.75% KOH (wt/wt) catalyst concentration was obtained for the transesterification of the waste oil via the use of ultrasound.
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    Novel zeolite Na-X synthesized from fly ash as a heterogeneous catalyst in biodiesel production
    (Elsevier, 2012) Babajide, Omotola; Petrik, Leslie; Musyoka, Nicholas; Ameer, Farouk
    Several studies have been carried out on the production of biodiesel using different heterogeneous catalysts but this study has been able to demonstrate the prospect of utilizing South African class F fly ash as a raw material for zeolite synthesis subsequently applied as a solid base catalyst in the production of biodiesel. A novel faujasite zeolite material synthesized from South African class F fly ash and denoted as FA/Na-X was ion exchanged with potassium to obtain the South African class F fly ash based zeolite FA/K-X. This heterogeneous catalyst was used in the conversion of sunflower oil with methanol to yield fatty acid methyl esters. Different characterization techniques were employed to give more information about this zeolite material. The FA/Na-X and the ion exchanged FA/K-X were applied as catalysts in biodiesel synthesis via transesterification reactions. A high quality biodiesel with a yield of 83.53% was obtained at reaction conditions of methanol:oil ratio of 6:1, catalyst amount of 3% (w/w) of oil and reaction temperature of 65 ◦C after 8 h.
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    Synthesis of hydroxy sodalite from coal fly ash for biodiesel production from waste-derived maggot oil
    (MDPI, 2019) Shabani, Juvet Malonda; Babajide, Omotola; Petrik, Leslie
    Zeolites are aluminosilicate crystalline materials known for their unique characteristics, and have been prominent for nearly half a century due to their wide and important industrial applications. The production of zeolites, however, remains a challenge due to the high cost of commercial reagents conventionally used as feedstocks. In the current study, hydroxy sodalite (HS) zeolite samples were synthesised from coal fly ash feedstock by a direct hydrothermal synthesis method. The effects of hydrothermal crystallisation synthesis time on phase crystallinity, crystal size, and morphology of the formed HS were investigated. The prepared samples were characterised using XRD, SEM, EDS and FT-IR techniques. The XRD results of the samples prepared with varying synthesis times confirmed the formation of HS from low to high phase purity and crystallinity from 11 to over 98%. The SEM results reflected gradual variation in crystal morphology, of which highly crystalline HS samples were associated with hexagonal-cubic and cubic-platelet crystals.