SYNTHESIS HETEROGENEOUS CATALYST FeO/CaO FROM BLUE CRAB SHELL FOR TRANSESTERIFICATION OF FAT FISH OIL

Nowadays, biodiesel attracts much attention since it is renewable, sustainable, and can replace fossil fuels. CaO was a suitable heterogeneous catalyst for transesterification reaction to produce biodiesel. In this study, blue crab shell was recycled as the CaO source. CaO was combined with iron oxide to form a bifunctional catalyst, which was applied for the transesterification of fish fat oil in an autoclave reactor. The catalyst characteristics, i.e. thermal degradation property, morphology, and composition, were studied by TGA and SEM-EDX. The effect of catalyst, temperature, reaction time, and MeOH: oil molar ratio was investigated. The results showed that the addition of Fe can enhance the reaction rate. The reaction temperature and MeOH: oil molar ratio affected the reaction time and catalyst loading more significantly than the FAME yield. The highest FAME yield (84.28%) was achieved at 140°C, 2h, 10wt% FexOy/CaO catalyst and 20:1 MeOH: oil molar ratio.