Methanolysis of CaO based catalyst derived from egg shell-snail shell-wood ash mixed for fatty acid methylester (FAME) synthesis from a ternary mixture of Irvingia gabonensis -Pentaclethra macrophylla - Elais guineensis oil blend: An application of simplex lattice and central composite design optimization

• Published in: Fuel (Guildford) 2020-09, Vol.275, p.117997, Article 117997
• Main Authors: Adepoju, T.F., Ibeh, M.A., Babatunde, E.O., Asquo, A.J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ashes; Basicity; Biodiesel fuels; Biofuels; Calcium carbonate; Catalyst reusability; Catalysts; Design optimization; Elais guineensis; FAME; Fatty acids; Hardwoods; Heat treatment; Independent variables; Industrial applications; Irvingia gabonensis; Methanolysis; Oil; Pentaclethra macrophylla; Physicochemical properties; Reaction time; Recyclability; Statistics; Synthesis; Ternary mixture; Transesterification; Variance analysis; Wastes; Wood waste
• ISSN: 0016-2361; 1873-7153
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fuel.2020.117997

•Ternary oil blend ratio of 33:33:34 produced oil with low viscosity and high volatility.•CaO based catalyst was derived from the thermal treatment of the mixture of these wastes.•Catalyst reusability was stopped at 3rd cycle due to decreased in it activity.•Optimum average FAME of 97.22 (wt%) was obtained via validated statistical optimization.•The produced FAME confirmed with biodiesel recommended standard. Considering the large number of wastes produced as wood ash, snail and eggshells around the globe, CaO based catalyst was derived from the thermal treatment of carbon carbonate obtained from the mixture of these wastes for methanolysis synthesis of FAME from the ternary mixture (33:33:34) of Irvingia gabonensis, Pentaclethra macrophylla, and Elais guineensis oil was carried out in this study. Calcined blend catalyst (CBC) was well characterized by SEM, EDX-ray, FTIR and BET analysis. The strength of the basicity of the catalyst was tested by catalyst recyclability via methanolysis of CaO transesterification of ternary blend oil to FAME. Results showed a maximum FAME yield of 98.00 (wt%) with the statistical optimization prediction of 97.33 (wt%) at a reaction time of 64.71 min, catalyst amount of 4.5 wt%, reaction temperature of 61.61 °C, and methanol/oil molar ratio of 8:1 (ml/ml), the predicted value was validated in triplicate to obtain an average FAME of 97.22 (wt%). Catalyst reusability was stopped at the 3rd cycle due to decrease in it activity. Statistical optimization through analysis of variance further confirmed the remarkable significant effects of the independent variables with p-value