POTENTIAL OF MAGNETIC SAND AS CATALYST FOR THE HETEROGENEOUS TRANSESTERIFICATION OF Ziziphus abyssinica SEED OIL TO BIODIESEL

Abstract

Biodiesel is produced through esterification and transesterification reactions of vegetable oil and animal fats with an alcohol. Methanol or ethanol is usually the alcohol for biodiesel preparation. The reaction is facilitated with either homogeneous or heterogeneous catalyst. The quantity of free fatty acid is important in order to select the appropriate catalyst Today biodiesel compared with petroleum is considered an environmentally friendly fuel due to low carbon dioxide emissions, biodegradable fuel, high cetane number, high combustion efficiency, lower sulphur and aromatic content in comparison to petroleum diesel, making the biodiesel a competitive fuel in the market. Biodiesel production aims to get good qualities and quantities by choosing suitable and cheap feedstock such as virgin vegetable oils, used cook oils and animals’ fats. In this study, Ziziphus abyssinica oil is utilized in the manufacturing of biodiesel. Magnetic sand from Lagos Street River in Maiduguri was used as a potential heterogeneous catalyst. The study revealed that the viscosity, flash point, cloud point, pour point, pH and density are in good agreement with those parameters earlier carried out using K2CO3, Na2CO3, MgO, CaO, mixed oxides of zinc and aluminium etc as catalysts. FTIR analysis of the biodiesel shows intense peaks at 2862.46 cm-1 and 2916.47cm-1, indicating the presence of C – H, 1743.971cm-1, signifying the presence of C = O, 1427.37cm-1, implying the presence of a methyl ester group – COOCH3. A closely and neatly packed spherical granule was observed in the magnetic sand from the SEM analysis.