Biorefinery Production of Fuels and Platform Chemicals

9Fly Ash Derived Catalyst for Biodiesel Production

Trinath Biswal¹, Krushna Prasad Shadangi²* and Prakash Kumar Sarangi³

¹Department of Chemistry, Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology, Burla, Odisha, India

²Department of Chemical Engineering, Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology, Burla, Odisha, India

³College of Agriculture, Central Agricultural University, Imphal, Manipur, India

Abstract

Fly ash produced due to burning of coal in thermal power plants for generation of energy is a significant industrial solid waste material. There are many research works carried out for eco-utilization of fly ash in various ways. This study is focused on originating, chemical composition, chemical properties, and catalytic activity of coal fly ash for production of biodiesel. The raw fly ash (RFA) after recycling can be used as a suitable solid catalyst because of various benefits as compared with other homogenous catalysts. The presence of aluminosilicate and some rare earth metals in coal burning fly ash considered it as a suitable candidate material for various catalytic, adsorption, and other extraction processes including fuel production. However, the existence of hazardous materials is a significant environmental problem, which must be resolved in order to avoid water, air, and soil contamination. Only 1-2% conversion of biodiesel was achieved from soybean oil by using RFA. The acid-treated fly ash (ATFA) was mixed with a metal hydroxide like KOH or NaOH and Ca(OH)₂ and was ...