PRODUCTION OF BIODIESEL FROM PALM KERNEL OIL USING IRON OXIDE(FeO)AND SODIUM HYDROXIDE (NaOH) CATALYST

PRODUCTION OF BIODIESEL FROM PALM KERNEL OIL USING IRON OXIDE(FeO)AND SODIUM HYDROXIDE (NaOH) CATALYST

ABSTRACT

In the production of biodiesel a wide variety of vegetable oils can be used as raw material. In this research palm kernel oil was used. After the production of biodiesel using palm kernel oil (PKO) the physiochemical analysis carried out showed that the PKO diesel fuel fell in the range of literature for biodiesel and close to that of the petroleum diesel fuel. The experimental value of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) biodiesel produced properties showed: Specific gravity (kg/m3) 0.8600, Kinematic viscosity (mm2/sec) 2.8566, Acid value (mgKOH/g) 0.480, Cetane number 45.50, Cloud point (°C) 3.0, Flash point (°C) 120, Pour point (°C) -9.000, Heat of combustion (BTU/gal) 130,000. And for Iron (ii) oxide FeO as a catalyst: Specific gravity (kg/m3), 0.8907, Kinematic viscosity (mm2/sec) 2.9566, Acid value (mgKOH/g) 0.5012, Cetane number 48.00,  Cloud point (°C) 2.0, Flash point (°C) 110,  Pour point (°C) -11.000, Heat of combustion (BTU/gal), 128,000.

CHAPTER ONE

1.0                                                              INTRODUCTION

Biodiesel also referred to as non-petroleum based fuel consists of short chain alkyl (methyl or ethyl) esters,  made by transesterification of vegetable or animal fat  (tallow), which can be used (blend conventional petrol diesel) in unmodified diesel engine vehicles. Goering RD, et al,. (2012).

According to Gerpen JV, Parawira W et al, biodiesel production is through the chemical reaction of an animal fat or vegetable oil with an alcohol for instance methanol which requires the presence of a catalyst (usually a base) like potassium or sodium hydroxide which in turn produces new chemical compound called methyl esters. Biodiesel could be prepared from varieties of  oil from vegetables like canola, corn, cotton seed oil, peanut, safflower, soybean, sun flower oil, palm oil,  olive oil, palm kernel oil and coconut oil.

The most universally used alcohol in the preparation of biodiesel is methanol as a result of the following  advantage it has, compared to other alcohol; it is cheap, it prevents the formation of soap, it does not  produce azeotrope and reactivity is high, hence it is less difficult to recover. Demirbas A., (2009). Alcohol such as ethanol, butyl and iso-propanol can also be used.

Biodiesel can be considered to be a promising alternative to petroleum diesel and has attracted keen attention from many researchers all over the world, (Anderson YM, Adam NM, 2009). The need to reduce global warming due to environmental pollution and the willingness of international community to curb greenhouse emission as stipulated in the Kyoto protocol in 1997 has encouraged the need to find more alternative to fossil fuels Matal SS, Beena KV, et al, (2011).The aim of this paper is production of  biodiesel using crude palm kernel oil (PKO).

Investigation of the influence of FeO, NaOH and NaOH/FeO catalyst on yield of biodiesel was carried out and will be shown as well as the characterization of the palm kernel oil and biodiesel produced.

Vegetable oils occur naturally in the seeds of many plants and can be extracted by crushing and pressing. Their energy content is typically around 36-39 GJ t-1  and is only a little less than that of fossil diesel fuel (about 42 GJ t-1), (GODFREY BOYLE).

Vegetable oils could be burned directly in diesel engines, as Raw Straight Vegetable Oils (SVO), where the only treatment is filtering, however, the use of SVO in burners or engines is difficult due to high viscosity, danger of polymerization, wax sedimentation, coking at fuel injectors, solidification at low temperatures, etc. Engine conversion or tuning is necessary if SVO is the fuel. They can also be blended with diesel fuel, but incomplete combustion could be a major problem, leading to carbon build-up in the cylinders. Due to these facts, chemical conversion of the vegetable oils into esters, a type of  biodiesel,  is preferred, (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiesel).

Biodiesel solves some SVO-related problems by having physical properties very similar to those of fossil diesel, however certain major problems remain, plus that the presence of methanol and alkali residues in biodiesel might also be a challenge for engines not adapted to the fuel, (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiesel).

1.1       PALM KERNEL OIL CULTIVATION

Palm kernel oil is very similar to coconut oil in fatty acid composition and properties. The two trees also look rather similar, both are called “palms” but they belong to different genera. Coconut palm is “Cocos nucifera”, while the oil palm, which gives both palm oil (PO) and PKO is “Elaeis guineensis”. This tree is generally believed to have originated in the jungle forests of East Africa and there is some evidence that palm oil was used in Egypt at the time of the Pharaohs, some 5000 years ago. Nowadays, however, its cultivation is confined mostly to South East Asia.

The variety cultivated in nearly all the world’s plantations is the hybrid “Tenera” which gives the highest yield of oil per hectare of any crop. The relative economic efficiency of the oil palm is easily seen from the following simple calculation – soyabeans in the USA give a yield of about 2.5 tonnes of beans per hectare (1 hectare = 2.47 acres), which translates into about 0.5 tonne of oil and 2 tonnes of meal. Taking the price of meal at about 40% of the price of the oil, the total income to the farmer is equivalent to 1.3 tonnes of oil. In Malaysia, oil palms yield an average of 3.75 tonnes of palm oil, plus 0.6 tonnes of palm kernel oil, plus 0.6 tonnes of palm kernel meal, with income equivalent to 4.5 tonnes of oil. Furthermore, the oil palm is capable of vastly greater yields. PORIM has found trees which give more than double the above yields and their palm oil has the iodine value and fluidity of current super-olein. PORIM is also researching tissue culture which, one day, could push yields to twice as much again.

The palm fruit looks like a plum. The outer fleshy mesocarp gives the palm oil, while the kernel (which is inside a hard shell) gives palm kernel oil. It is rather strange that the two oils from the same fruit are entirely different in fatty acid composition and properties. In palm oil, most of the fatty acids are C16 (i.e. have 16 carbon atoms) and higher, while in palm kernel oil, they are C14 and lower.

1.2       AIM OF THE STUDY

1. The aim of this research work is to produce biodiesel using two different solvent (FeO and NaOH )
2. To compare the statistical percentage yield of the two solvent.

1.3       OBJECTIVE OF STUDY

The objective of this research is to examine the performance of yield and purity of biodiesel and reaction time via single step batch transesterification process.

1.4       SCOPE OF STUDY

To study the effect of catalyst concentration on yield and purity of biodiesel using batch transesterification process.

1.5       PROBLEM STATEMENT

The problem was to determine the extent to which the sodium hydroxide and iron (ii) oxide as the catalyst and the effect of batch transesterification process on various parameters where PKO is used as a raw material in production of biodiesel.

1.5       SIGNIFICANCES OF STUDY

The rationale of this research is to identify the important variables and to propose a suitable approach in scaling up the production of biodiesel from PKO using batch transesterification process. With the important variables such as catalyst concentration, reaction time, reaction temperature and ratio of ethanol to oil used.

The high energy demand in the industrialized world as well as in the domestic sector, had caused pollution problems due to the widespread use of fossil fuels make it increasingly necessary to develop the renewable energy sources of smaller environmental impact than the fossil fuels such diesel fuels. The alternative fuel must be technically feasible, economically competitive, environmentally acceptable and readily available that is familiar to biodiesel properties. Biodiesel also biodegradable, non-toxic and has low emission profiles as compare to diesel fuel.