Coconut husk ash as heterogenous catalyst for biodiesel production from cerbera manghas seed oil

¹ Syiah Kuala University, Department of Chemical Engineering, Darussalam, 23111, Banda Aceh, Indonesia
² Malikussaleh University, Department of Chemical Engineering, Lhoekseumawe, 24300, Aceh Utara, Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: husni_husin@che.unsyiah.ac.id

Abstract

The research on the use of coconut husk as a solid catalyst for transesterification reaction of Cerbera manghas oil into biodiesel has been done. The aim of this study is to investigate the performance of coconut husk ash for biodiesel production from Cerbera manghas seed oil. Coconut husk is prepared by burning in air to obtain potassium oxide as active phase. The coconut husk is analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The XRD spectrum shows that the peak characteristics of potassium oxide can be observed in the diffractogram. The particle size of the catalyst ranging from 1 - 3 μm with pentagonal structure. The coconut husk ash solid catalyst is used in the transesterification reaction of Cerbera manghas oil in a batch reactor. Biodiesel yield of 88.6% can be achieved over coconut husk ash catalyst, using a 10 wt.% of catalyst, reaction temperature at 3 hours, and a methanol-to-oil ratio of 6: 1. This solid catalyst can be separated easily from the reaction system and not soluble in methanol or methyl esters. The coconut husk ash catalyst is high potential to be developed as one of the solid catalysts to convert Cerbera manghas oil to biodiesel.