Transesterification of crude palm kernel oil and crude coconut oil by different solid catalysts [An article from: Chemical Engineering Journal]

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Description:
This work reports on the preliminary results of using several acidic and basic solids, such as ZrO"2, ZnO, SO"4^2^-/SnO"2, SO"4^2^-/ZrO"2, KNO"3/KL zeolite and KNO"3/ZrO"2 as heterogeneous catalysts for crude palm kernel oil (PKO) and crude coconut oil (CCO) transesterification with methanol. It was found that ZnO and SO"4^2^-/ZrO"2 exhibited the highest activity for both PKO and CCO transesterification. In the case of SO"4^2^-/ZrO"2, only 1wt.% of this acidic solid was needed to catalyze the reaction, and resulted in fatty acid methyl esters content higher than 90%. Moreover, a study of the catalyst's recyclability indicated that the spent SO"4^2^-/ZrO cannot be directly reused for the transesterification. However, this spent catalyst can be easily regenerated and the same activity can be obtained.