Affiliations 

  • 1 Faculty of Industrial Sciences and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Lebuhraya Tun Razak, 26300 Gambang, Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia; Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Mulawarman University, Gunung Kelua, 75113 Samarinda, East Borneo, Indonesia
  • 2 Faculty of Industrial Sciences and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Lebuhraya Tun Razak, 26300 Gambang, Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia; Central Laboratory, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Lebuhraya Tun Razak, 26300 Gambang, Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia. Electronic address: gaanty@hotmail.com
Ultrason Sonochem, 2015 Jan;22:454-62.
PMID: 24842471 DOI: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2014.04.011

Abstract

This study demonstrates the potential of Na-silica waste sponge as a source of low cost catalyst in the transesterification of waste cooking oil aided by ultrasound. In this work an environmentally friendly and efficient transesterification process using Na-loaded SiO2 from waste sponge skeletons as a solid catalyst is presented. The results showed that the methyl esters content of 98.4±0.4wt.% was obtainable in less than an hour (h) of reaction time at 55°C. Optimization of reaction parameters revealed that MeOH:oil, 9:1; catalyst, 3wt.% and reaction duration of 30min as optimum reaction conditions. The catalyst is able to tolerant free fatty acid and moisture content up to 6% and 8%, respectively. In addition, the catalyst can be reused for seven cycles while maintaining the methyl esters content at 86.3%. Ultrasound undoubtedly assisted in achieving this remarkable result in less than 1h reaction time. For the kinetics study at 50-60°C, a pseudo first order model was proposed, and the activation energy of the reaction is determined as 33.45kJ/mol using Arrhenius equation.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.