AUTHOR=Kumawat Manoj Kumar , Rokhum Samuel Lalthazuala 

TITLE=Biodiesel Production From Oleic Acid Using Biomass-Derived Sulfonated Orange Peel Catalyst

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Catalysis

VOLUME=2

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/catalysis/articles/10.3389/fctls.2022.914670

DOI=10.3389/fctls.2022.914670

ISSN=2673-7841

ABSTRACT=<p>Biodiesel, as an alternative fuel for petroleum-based fuel, has recently acquired significant attention. The current study focused on using biowaste to produce catalysts for low-cost biodiesel manufacturing. Orange peels (OP) were used to make carbon-based solid acid catalysts with sulfonic acid group (–SO<sub>3</sub>H) density of 1.96 mmol g<sup>−1</sup><italic>via</italic> a “one-pot” carbonization-sulfonation treatment. Under the optimized reaction conditions (15:1 MeOH to oleic acid molar ratio, 7 wt.% catalyst loading w.r.t oleic acid, 80°C reaction temperature, 60 min reaction time), 96.51 ± 0.4% conversion of oleic acid to methyl oleate (a biodiesel component) was obtained. The catalyst displayed high recyclability and stability on repeated reuse, with a negligible decrease in biodiesel conversion up to 5 catalytic cycles.</p>