Transesterification of Sunflower Oil over Waste Chicken Eggshell-Based Catalyst in a Microreactor: An Optimization Study.

ABSTRACT

The statistical experimental design (DoE) and optimization (Response Surface Methodology combined with Box-Behnken design) of sunflower oil transesterification catalyzed by waste chicken eggshell-based catalyst were conducted in a custom-made microreactor at 60 °C. The catalyst was synthesized by the hydration-dehydration method and subsequent calcination at 600 °C. Comprehensive characterization of the obtained catalyst was conducted using X-ray powder diffractometry (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), N2 physisorption, and Hg-porosimetry. Structural, morphological, and textural results showed that the obtained catalyst exhibited high porosity and regular dispersity of plate-like CaO as an active species. The obtained optimal residence time, catalyst concentration, and methanol/oil volume ratio for the continuous reaction in microreactor were 10 min, 0.1 g g-1, and 31, respectively. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the obtained reduced quadratic model was adequate for experimental results fitting. The reaction in the microreactor was significantly intensified compared to a conventional batch reactor, as seen through the fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) content after 10 min, which was 51.2% and 18.6%, respectively.