Biodiesel Synthesis Through Transesterification of Used Cooking Oil Using NaN3/Modified Clay Catalyst and The effect of Acetone as Co-Solvent

Transesterification of used cooking oil (UCO) using NaN3/modified clay catalyst andinvestigation of the acetone effect have been done.The modified clay catalyst was synthesizedby destructing the Merauke clay with8M HCl solution, then fusion by NaOH pellet, followedby treating with AlCl3.6H2O, CTAB and distilled water.Then the mixture was regulated to pHof 11.5. Next, the mixture was then poured into a reactor for hydrothermal process at 140 oCfor 48 h. The results of the dealumination of clay was characterized byX-ray Fluorescence andthe synthesized zeolite was characterized using surface area analyzer and X-RayDiffraction.The synthesized zeolite was impregnated by NaN3 as a precussor produced theNaN3/modified clay catalyst sample.Rasio of catalyst :UCO : methanol was 1.0 : 20.0 : 13.3and the ratio of aceton to methanol was 2:1. The transesterificationprocess was carried out at 60and 65oC. The liquid product was analyzed using Gas Chromatography MassSpectrometer.The resulted showed that themodified clay had surface area of 5.5685 m2/g, porevolume of 0.0126 cm3/g, and pore diameter of 8.871 nm. The results of measurements withXRD produced a different form of chromatogram and type of mineral. The main mineral wasgismondine.In this research, The transesterification of UCO using NaN3/MC catalyst at 60 oCresulted methyl esters of 65.3 wt %.Furthermore, after adding acetone to the same treatment,the resulting methyl ester was 82.7 wt%.The transesterification of UCO at 65 ° C usingNaN3/MC catalyst and acetone produced the highest content of methyl esters or biodiesel thatwas equal to 94.4 wt %.