Application of waste cocoa pod husks as a heterogeneous catalyst in homogenizer-intensified biodiesel production at room temperature

Abstract

Waste agricultural biomass available abundantly with limited utilization. The cocoa pod husks comprise of inorganic compounds particularly potassium oxide which can be used as a catalyst for biodiesel production. The waste cocoa pod husks were successfully transformed into a heterogeneous catalyst under calcination at 750 °C for 4 hours. The calcined cocoa pod (CCP) was characterized using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), x-ray diffraction (XRD), x-ray fluorescence (XRF), and scanning electron microscope – energy dispersive x-ray (SEM EDX) while the catalytic activity was evaluated using parameters of reaction time, catalyst weight, molar ratio of palm oil to methanol and rotational speed of a homogenizer. The biodiesel conversion of 96.2 ± 0.3 % was achieved under reaction conditions of a reaction time of 20 minutes, and a catalyst weight of 7 wt% (based on oil weight), molar ratio of 1:15 and rotational speed of 6000 rpm. The homogenizer-intensified biodiesel production using waste CCP as a heterogeneous catalyst could save reaction time by 87–65 % compared with other studies.

Keywords

• Cocoa pod
• Heterogeneous catalyst
• Homogenizer
• Biodiesel