Preparation and Characterization of Alkaline Catalyst Waste from Eggshell for Transesterification Reaction

The catalytic activities of calcium oxide obtained from eggshell are characterized and
evaluated in the transesterification of waste cooking oil. These catalysts are mainly
composed of calcium carbonate, which is partially converted into CaO after
calcination (900 C for 2 h). CaO catalysts have advantages such as abundant
occurrence, low cost, porous structure, and nontoxic. In the research work, the CaO
is impregnated with montmorillonite clay and compared with CaO eggshell and
commercialized CaO. The catalysts are characterized by EDS, FTIR, TGA, SEM,
and BET methods. WCO is treated with acid catalyst to reduce the FFA content
before being tested in transesterification process. The catalysts are then undergo
transesterification reaction to produce FAME and the yield of biodiesel are tested
based on the reaction temperature and reaction time factors.