Name: Choi Yu Hui

ID: 1402693

The implementation of biomass sources as carbon precursor to synthesise heterogeneous solid

catalyst for biodiesel production has drawn attention from researchers because it is less expensive
and can reduce the biomass waste. In this research, the biomass-based catalysts were synthesised
and the effect of pretreatment conditions on catalytic performance was investigated. In
preliminary study, oil palm frond (OPF) with particles size of 300μm was selected as the most
promising biomass source and size whereas potassium hydroxide (KOH) was chosen as an
activating agent due to its better impregnation effect as compared to phosphoric acid (H3 PO4 ).
Afterward, the effect of pretreatment conditions was studied by manipulating the carbonisation
temperatures (400℃, 600℃ and 800℃), impregnation weight ratios of OPF to KOH (1:0.5, 1:1
and 1:1.5) and impregnation temperatures (50℃, 70℃ and 90℃). Esterification was carried out
using palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD) at reaction condition of 100℃ for 6h, 1wt% catalyst
loading and methanol to oil molar ratio of 10:1. Other than pretreatment parameters, various
sulfonation methods such as direct sulfonation, 4-BDS and decomposition of ammonium
persulfate were implemented to synthesis catalyst and the effect of sulfonation methods on
catalytic performance was compared. The biodiesel yield and conversion were determined by gas
chromatography (GC) and acid value test. The results showed that the optimum pretreatment
condition was achieved at maximum FAME yield and conversion of 92.27% and 96.53%,
respectively, at carbonisation temperature of 600℃, impregnation ratio of 1:1.5 and impregnation
temperature of 90℃. In order to study the effect of pretreatment on samples, characterisation of
raw OPF, impregnated OPF, activated carbon and catalyst were done to investigate the surface
morphology with SEM, elemental composition with EDX, the presence of functional groups with
FTIR, thermal stability with TGA and effective reduction temperature with TPR.