Comparative study of ultrasonic and conventional method for biodiesel production using different heterogeneous catalyst

aSchool of Chemical Engineering, Dr. Vishwanath Karad MIT World Peace University, Pune-411 038, Maharashtra, India bDepartment of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering and Technology, Akola-444 104, Maharashtra, India E-mail: niraj.topare@mitwpu.edu.in, nirajtopare06@gmail.com Manuscript received online 18 November 2020, revised and accepted 30 November 2020 The application of heterogeneous catalyst has recently attracted a substantial interest in production of biodiesel compared to homogeneous catalyst due to its repeatability in successive reactions and its easier separation from the reaction mixture. De­tailed methods by which biodiesel is produced using the low-frequency ultrasonic energy (20 kHz) and the conventional me­chanical stirrer are described. Waste cooking soybean oil (WCSO) will be used as a feedstock for this purpose. The experi­ments were conducted at oil/alcohol molar ratio (1:6), reaction time (60 min), reaction temperature (65°C) with three different catalysts aluminium oxide (Al2O3), calcium oxide (CaO) and magnesium oxide (MgO) at three different percentages (0.5 wt.%, 0.75 wt.%, 1 wt.%). WCSO biodiesel has been determined for its significant chemical and physical properties. The result shows that biodiesel production through the ultrasound process is relatively simple and more efficient than that produced by the con­ventional method. Keywords: Biodiesel, waste cooking soybean oil, Al2O3, CaO, Mg