Application of coal fly ash as a solid basic catalyst in producing biodiesel

Omotola Babajide, Leslie Petrik, Nicholas Musyoka, Bamikole Amigun, Farouk Ameer

Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

South Africa is largely dependent on the combustion of coal for electricity production; Eskom's coal-fired power stations consume approximately 109 million tons of coal per annum, producing around 25 million tons of ash, to supply the bulk (93%) of South Africa's electricity. The management of this fly ash has been a concern with various approaches for its beneficial use being investigated. This work presents the results of transesterification reaction using sunflower oil as feedstock with methanol and class F fly ash catalyst derived from a coal fly ash dump in South Africa to produce methyl esters (biodiesel). The influence of various reactions parameters such as loading amount of active components, methanol: oil ratio, reaction time, temperature and catalyst deactivation was investigated and the product synthesized was tested. The important fuel properties of the methyl esters compared well with ASTM biodiesel standard.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication10AIChE - 2010 AIChE Annual Meeting, Conference Proceedings
Publication statusPublished - 2010
Externally publishedYes
Event2010 AIChE Annual Meeting, 10AIChE - Salt Lake City, UT, United States
Duration: 7 Nov 201012 Nov 2010

Publication series

NameAIChE Annual Meeting, Conference Proceedings

Conference

Conference2010 AIChE Annual Meeting, 10AIChE
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySalt Lake City, UT
Period7/11/1012/11/10

Keywords

  • Fly ash
  • Heterogeneous catalyst
  • Methyl ester
  • Sunflower oil
  • Transesterification

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemical Engineering
  • General Chemistry

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