Characterization of Alumina supported Potassium compound as solid base catalyst for biodiesel production

Biodiesel fuel which is fuel that consist of methyl esters of long chain fatty acids that produced by transesterification process of animal fats and vegetables oil with methanol. This biodiesel is a promising alternative diesel fuel due to its environmental benign and it is made from renewable resources. In this study, alumina supported potassium compound which is solid base catalyst for production of biodiesel was characterized in order to identify the phase present and the morphology of the catalysts using Thermo Gravimetric Analysis (TGA), X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Different loading of KNO3 were used in this research to determine the optimum catalyst for biodiesel production which are 20 wt%, 30 wt% and 40 wt% of KNO3/Al203 . Besides, calcination temperature that was used in this reaction also important to identify the highest basicity and best catalytic activity of the catalyst. It is found that at 500 CC calcination temperature, the optimum catalyst was 30 wt% KNO3/Al203 due to the element K20 that gives high basicity and catalytic activity of the catalyst. This catalyst has highest potential for further use in transesterification process for biodiesel production due to its characteristics.