Abstract:
The present study explores the effective conversion of lipids extracted from
discarded fish waste into biodiesel using a CaO(Ca3Al2O6) as a
heterogeneous catalyst. The properties and the catalyst structure were
explored using XRD, FT-IR, SEM, and EDX analyses. The lipid extraction from
discarded fish waste was performed through Soxhlet extraction utilizing
methanol as a solvent. The catalytic transesterification of biodiesel from
discarded fish waste lipids was conducted employing CaO(Ca3Al2O6) as a
heterogeneous catalyst by varying lipids-to-methanol ratio (1:6-1:16),
catalyst doses (1-6 wt%), reaction time (1-6 h), and temperature (40-70 °C).
The experimental conditions were optimized using response surface
methodology (RSM) and validated using an artificial neural network (ANN).
The highest biodiesel yield obtained was about 93% at optimal
experimental conditions of lipid to methanol ratio of 1:8.79, reaction time
of 4.11 h, reaction temperature of 65.49 °C, and catalyst loading of 4 wt%.
Kinetic and thermodynamic studies discovered that the transesterification
reaction is non-spontaneous and endothermic, and it requires a low
activation energy (12.787 kJ/mol). Physicochemical properties of the
synthesized biodiesel complied with the biodiesel standard specifications
of EN 14214 and ASTM D6751, highlighting its suitability as a renewable
alternative to conventional diesel fuels.
