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Synthesis of Magnetic Catalyst Derived from Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch for Esterification of Oleic Acid: An Optimization Study

1College of Graduate Studies, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, 43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia

2Institute of Sustainable Energy, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, 43000 Kajang, Selangor , Malaysia

3Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, 43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia

Received: 30 Sep 2021; Revised: 18 Nov 2021; Accepted: 18 Nov 2021; Available online: 22 Nov 2021; Published: 30 Mar 2022.
Editor(s): Istadi Istadi, Suresh Sagadevan
Open Access Copyright (c) 2021 by Authors, Published by BCREC Group
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Abstract

Biomass, renewable, abundantly available and a good source of energy. The conversion of biomass waste into valuable products has received wide attention. In this study, an empty fruit bunch (oil palm EFB) supported magnetic acid catalyst for esterification reaction was successfully prepared via the one-step impregnation process. The new magnetic catalyst achieved a higher surface area of 188.87 m2/g with a total acidity of 2.4 mmol/g and identified iron oxide as g-Fe2O3. The magnetization value of 24.97 emu/g demonstrated that the superparamagnetic catalyst could be easily recovered and separated after the reaction using an external magnet. The catalytic performance of oil palm EFB supported magnetic acid catalyst was examined by esterification of oleic acid. Esterification process parameters were optimized via Response Surface Methodology (RSM) optimization tool with Box-Behnken design (BBD). The following optimum parameters were determined: an amount of 9 wt% catalyst, molar ratio of methanol to oleic acid of 12:1, reaction time of 2 h and reaction temperature of 60 °C with a maximum conversion of 94.91% was achieved. The catalyst can be recycled up to five cycles with minimal loss in its activity. The oil palm waste-based magnetic acid catalyst indicates its potential replacement to the existing solid catalysts that are economical and environmentally friendly for the esterification process in biofuel applications. Copyright © 2021 by Authors, Published by BCREC Group. This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).

 

Keywords: Biomass; Magnetic; Catalyst; Esterification; Optimization; Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch
Funding: Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) of Malaysia under contract Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS/1/2018/STG07/UNITEN/02/3)

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