Abstract
A bone waste was utilized as a cost effective catalyst for the transesterification of Indian mustard oil. This high efficient and low-cost waste catalyst could make the biodiesel production from Indian mustard oil competitive with petroleum diesel.The catalysts samples were calcined at different temperatures (800oC, 900oC and 1000oC) for 2 hrs. The samples were characterized by using X-Ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and BET surface area analyzer. A simple model was used to study the kinetics of hydroxyapatite-catalyzed transesterification of mustard oil. The optimum conditions for biodiesel production were (reaction temperature (60oC), a methanol-to-oil molar ratio (20:1) and catalyst amounts (18% based on oil weight). Two steps were concluded for the transesterification process, the initial one is the triglyceride (TG) mass transfer controlled region, The second one is the chemical reaction controlled region. The high adsorbed methanol concentration and the lower availability of active specific catalyst surface caused the TG mass transfer controlled region.Increasing the catalyst amount in the transesterification process caused increasing both the TG mass transfer and chemical reaction rates.The effect of mixing conditionsin the transesterification process was predicted in the modeling strategy.
