文摘
Waste animal bones was employed as a cost effective catalyst for the transesterification of palm oil. The catalyst was calcined at different temperatures to transform the calcium phosphate in the bones to hydroxyapatite and 800 ¡ãC was found to give the best yield of biodiesel. The catalyst was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FT-IR). Under the optimal reaction conditions of 20 wt. % of catalyst, 1:18 oil to methanol molar ratio, 200 rpm of stirring of reactants and at a temperature of 65 ¡ãC, the methyl ester conversion was 96.78 % and it was achieved in 4 h. The catalyst performed equally well as the laboratory-grade CaO. Animal bone is therefore a useful raw material for the production of a cheap catalyst for transesterification.