Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences, Vol 27 No 3 (2023): 586 - 599

 

PHOTO-ESTERIFICATION OF WASTE COOKING OIL USING A NOVEL NANOCATALYST TIO2 IMPREGNATED WITH EMPTY FRUIT BUNCHES ASH HETEROGENEOUS CATALYST

 

(Foto-Esterifikasi Sisa Minyak Masak Menggunakan Novel Nanocatalyst TiO2 yang Diimpregnasi dengan Mangkin Heterogen Abu Tandan Buah Kelapa Sawit Kosong)

 

Siti Fadhilah Ibrahim1, Norshahidatul Akmar Mohd Shohaimi1, *, Mohd Lokman Ibrahim2,

Zul Adlan Mohd Hir1, Mohd Sufri Mastuli2, and Wan Nur Aini Wan Mokhtar3

 

1Faculty of Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA Pahang, 26400 Bandar Tun Abdul Razak Jengka, Pahang, Malaysia

2School of Chemistry and Environment, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

3Centre for Advanced Materials and Renewable Resources, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

 

*Corresponding author: akmarshohaimi@uitm.edu.my

 

 

Received: 29 September 2022; Accepted: 15 April 2023; Published:  23 June 2023

 

 

Abstract

Photo-esterification of Waste Cooking Oil (WCO) with TiO2/EFBA500 photocatalyst as heterogeneous photo-catalyst has been investigated in this study. WCO is nonedible oil with high free fatty acid (FFA) content which needs esterification to reduce its FFA content followed by transesterification to produce Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME). WCO was esterified with methanol through photocatalytic process with UV light irradiation as the light source. TiO2/EFBA500 photocatalyst was synthesized using simple wet impregnation method. The samples were characterized by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX) and Ultraviolet Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (UV-Vis DRS) analysis. Characterization results revealed that the bandgap energy of TiO2/EFBA500 was successfully reduced from 3.0 eV to 2.88 eV which was suitable in UV light irradiation and needed low energy in the process. TiO2 semiconductor composite doped with Empty Fruit Bunches Ash (EFBA) showed a very high catalytic activity for FFAs photo-esterification. Experimental results showed that the optimum condition of photo-esterification with catalyst loading to oil was 4 wt.%, 20:1 methanol to oil molar ratio and 2 h reaction time achieved the reduction of FFA content from 11.65% to 2.04% with FFA conversion of 83%. FFA content was successfully reduced indicating that photo-catalytic esterification is a viable option in order to produce FAME. Biodiesel analysis using Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GCMS) is used to calculate yield and methyl ester content according to international biodiesel standard European (EN14103).

 

Keywords: biodiesel, photo-esterification, transesterification, waste cooking oil, empty fruit bunches ash

 

 

Abstrak

Foto-esterifikasi sisa minyak masak (WCO) dengan foto-mangkin TiO2/EFBA500 sebagai mangkin foto heterogen telah dikaji dalam kajian ini. WCO ialah minyak tidak boleh dimakan dengan kandungan asid lemak bebas (FFA) yang tinggi, memerlukan pengesteran untuk mengurang kandungan FFA diikuti dengan transesterifikasi untuk menghasilkan asid lemak metil ester (FAME). WCO telah diesterkan dengan metanol melalui proses fotokatalitik dan penyinaran cahaya UV sebagai sumber cahaya. Foto-pemangkin TiO2/EFBA500 telah disintesis menggunakan kaedah impregnasi basah yang biasa. Sampel dicirikan dengan Pembelauan Sinar-X (XRD), Mikroskopi Imbasan Elektron (SEM), Serakan Tenaga Sinar (EDX) dan Spektroskopi Pemantulan Resap UV-vis (UV-Vis DRS) analisis. Keputusan perincian mendedahkan bahawa tenaga jurang jalur TiO2/EFBA500 berjaya dikurangkan daripada 3.0 eV kepada 2.88 eV yang sesuai dalam penyinaran cahaya UV dan tenaga yang rendah diperlukan dalam proses tersebut. Komposit semikonduktor TiO2 yang digabungkankan dengan abu tandan buah kelapa sawit kosong (EFBA) menunjukkan aktiviti pemangkinan yang sangat tinggi untuk pengesteran foto FFAs. Keputusan eksperimen menunjukkan keadaan optimum foto-esterifikasi dengan muatan mangkin nisbah kepada minyak ialah 4 wt.%, 20:1 metanol kepada nisbah molar minyak dan 2 jam masa tindak balas mencapai pengurangan kandungan FFA daripada 11.65% kepada 2.04% dengan penukaran FFA sebanyak 83%. Kandungan FFA telah berjaya dikurangkan menunjukkan bahawa pengesteran foto-mangkin adalah pilihan yang terbaik untuk menghasilkan FAME. Biodiesel dianalisis dengan Kromatografi Gas-Spektroskopi Jisim (GC-MS) analisis untuk mengira hasil dan kandungan metil ester mengikut piawaian biodiesel antarabangsa Eropah (EN14103).

 

Kata kunci: biodisel, foto-esterifikasi, transesterifikasi, sisa minyak masak, abu tandan buah kelapa sawit kosong

 

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