Preparation of oil palm EFB derived solid acid catalyst for esterification reaction: Effect of calcination temperature

Abstract

Oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) is one of the palm biomass produced in abundance after oil extraction in Malaysia. This study was focused to utilize this waste biomass as a beneficial raw materials. EFB was used to prepare new solid acid catalyst for biodiesel production. EFB was converted into solid catalyst via direct impregnation method and it was used to catalyse esterification of oleic acid. Transition metal sulfide salt, Fe2(SO4)3 was impregnated on EFB fibres. Effect of different calcination temperature was studied on the properties of catalyst. The result shows that Fe2(SO4)3 based solid acid catalyst which calcined at 500oC exhibited the highest catalytic activity with 93.90% esterification rate was achieved. The morphology and surface chemistry and function group determination for the solid acid catalyst were characterized by SEM-EDX and FTIR. © 2016 Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland.