Composite Catalyst of Palm Mill Fly Ash-Supported Calcium Oxide Obtained from Eggshells for Transesterification of Off-Grade Palm Oil

This research was designed to synthesize a composite catalyst of palm oil fly ash-impregnated calcium oxide prepared from eggshell waste. Several preparation conditions, such as temperature and time applied to calcination and dehydration processes, were investigated. As a result, the optimum temperature and the length of time of calcination were 900 degrees C and 3 h, respectively. Meanwhile, the dehydration process was performed optimally at 600 degrees C for 3 h. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) results indicate that the obtained catalyst mostly contained calcium oxide compounds (CaO and Ca(OH)(2)) and minor impurities of silica oxides (SiO(2)and Ca2SiO4), with a catalyst-specific surface area of 30.24 m(2)/g. Regarding its catalytic performance, the composite catalyst proved successful for prospective application the in transesterification of palm oil off-grade, resulting in methyl palmitate and methyl oleate, which are two biodiesel compounds.