The application of calcium oxide from waste cockle for biodiesel production from used cooking oil via microwave heating system

An experimental investigation was conducted to explore the heterogeneous catalytic performance of activated waste cockles derived CaO on the biodiesel production of used cooking oil via microwave heating system. The catalyst was characterized by Xray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) method. The effects of reaction parameters such as reaction time, methanol to oil molar ratio, catalyst concentration, and microwave exit power on the yield of biodiesel were investigated. It is clearly observed that the catalyst activity still sustained up to three successive cycles. The fuel properties of the biodiesel produced were compared with the ASTM D6751 and were in accordance with the standard method. More than 95% yield concentration was recorded through the microwave irradiation method which shows that it can be employed as an energy source due to its ability in accelerating the transesterification process