Characterization of alumina supported banana peel and chicken egg shell for biodiesel catalyst

Currently, there is a tremendous need for fossil fuel which can be replaced by biodiesel, that is an environmentally safe and wise option for vehicles. Vegetable oil can be transesterified to produce biodiesel in the presence of a catalyst. A large number of catalyst used in biodiesel production come from chemical based, they are not friendly to the environment. Hence in this research intend to develop an environmentally friendly catalyst for biodiesel production using waste materials, specifically eggshells and banana peels. The chicken eggshell and banana peels are known to contain high level of Calcium oxide (CaO) and Potassium (K) properties respectively. Calcium oxide and Potassium Hydroxide are common solid catalysts employed in Medium-Chain Triglyceride (MCT) transesterification for biodiesel production. The waste eggshells and banana peels were collected from restaurants and houses and washed thoroughly by tap water to remove impurities for the current research. After that put under the oven for 12 hours on 120 oC temperature to remove the excessive moisture from the surface and moved to the crushing into small size and sieving processes which were done by using heavy duty blender and 0.3 mm sieve . The powder was dried in the oven at 100°C for 24 hours to totally remove the moisture. Then the powder was calcined in a muffle furnace at high temperatures. The activated calcine ash was characterized and qualitatively analysed by FTIR , XRD and TGA. The presence of CaO and K was confirmed from FTIR and analysis showed that the best catalyst that contains high content of CaO and K is banana peel then eggshell. The crystalline structure and phase composition of materials were identify