An active heterogeneous Al2O3 modified MgZnO (MgZnAlO) catalyst was prepared and the catalytic activity was investigated for the transesterification of different vegetable oils (refined palm oil, waste cooking palm oil, palm kernel oil and coconut oil) with methanol to produce biodiesel. The catalyst was characterized by using X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectra, thermo gravim...

Heterogeneous transesterification of vegetable oils offers an environmentally more attractive option for biodiesel production compared with the conventional homogeneous processes. Thus, double metallic methoxide catalyst was developed in the present study, aiming to improve the transesterification of low-cost palm stearin (PS) and reduce waste generation. The physicochemical properties of the s...

Investigations were conducted on a series of calcium and lanthanum oxides catalyst for biodiesel production. Mixed oxides catalyst showed a superior transesterification activity over pure calcium or pure lanthanum oxide catalysts. The catalyst activity was correlated with surface basicity and specific surface areas. The effects of water and free fatty acids (FFA) levels in oil feedstock, water ...

The present work deals with optimization of culture conditions and process parameters for bioleaching of spent petroleum catalyst collected from a petroleum refinery. The efficacy of Ni bioleaching from spent petroleum catalyst was determined using pure culture of Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans DSM- 11478. The culture conditions of pH, temperature and headspace volume to media volume ratio were ...

The two-step catalyzing process for biodiesel production from waste vegetable oil was assisted by both co-solvent and microwave irradiation. Central composite design (CCD) was employed to optimize the reaction conditions. Optimal reaction conditions of the first step were alcohol to oil molar ratio of 9:1, catalyst (H2SO4) amount 1 wt%, reaction temperature 333 K, and reaction time 7.5 minutes;...

A clean process has been developed for the synthesis of 2-adamantylphenol derivatives through adamantylation of substituted phenols with adamantanols catalyzed by commercially available and recyclable ion-exchange sulfonic acid resin in acetic acid. The sole byproduct of the adamantylation reaction, namely water, could be converted into the solvent acetic acid by addition of a slight excess of ...

A single-step method was developed for biodiesel production from unrefined or waste oils using a series of heterogeneous zinc and lanthanum mixed oxides. Effects of metal oxide molar ratio, free fatty acids (FFA) and water content in feedstock, molar ratio of methanol and oil, and reaction temperature on the yield of biodiesel were investigated. A strong interaction between Zn and La species wa...

The aluminum impregnated catalysts of Al-alumina (Al-Al2O3), Al-montmorillonite (Al-Mmn) and Al-activated charcoal (Al-AC) of various percent loadings were prepared by wet impregnation method and characterized by SEM, XRD and N2 adsorption/desorption (BET). The catalytic properties were investigated in the degradation of waste polystyrene (WPS). The results of catalytic degradation of Al metal,...

In this work, sawdust, a biomass waste, is converted into a magnetic porous carbonaceous (MPC) solid acid catalyst by an integrated fast pyrolysis-sulfonation process. The resultant magnetic solid acid has a porous structure with high surface area of 296.4 m(2) g(-1), which can be attributed to the catalytic effect of Fe. The catalytic activity and recyclability of the solid acid catalyst are e...

Photocatalytic degradation of Chlorpyrifos in aqueous phase by using photocatalyst TiO2 in the presence of artificial UV-light and sunlight was reported. Experiments were performed in both UV and solar light at optimized conditions. The degradation of insecticide was investigated in terms of reduction in COD. The effect of catalyst loading, pH, addition of oxidant on the reaction rate was ascer...