Investigation of alkaline g c3n4 supported metal oxides as a heterogenous catalyst for production of biodiesel from cassia fistula

Abstract

In the current scenario, various renewable sources have been developed to minimize the utilisation of fossil based fuels in every aspect. Biodiesel is attaining prominence to supersede the shortcomings caused by petroleum based newlinefuel. In India there is a huge prospective for alternative sources of fuel throughnon-edible sources that can be grown in large-scale unfarmed subsidiary and devastate lands. Many initiatives have been taken to process the vegetable oils newlineinto biodiesel. Even though there are various methods available for this conversion, the transesterification process is found to be the most feasible and preeminent method. Biodiesel faces challenge in emulsification of lipids and newlinealcohol, which results in the reduced mass transfer rate/calorific value.Therefore, the process requires ultrasonic waves to blend the reactants, alcohol and catalyst in an effective manner.This present research work focuses to explore the biodiesel production from Cassia fistula, through ultrasonification assisted transesterification process newlineusing the newly synthesised heterogeneous base catalysts (alkaline g-C3N4 supported metal oxides) and to identify the optimal biodiesel blend to achieve the efficient biodiesel engine performance. The bio-oil is extracted from newlineunattended, abundant and non-edible Cassia fistula seeds using a modified soxhlet extraction method. A range of solvents has been chosen, which includes acetone, isoproponal, methanol, hexane and chloroform. The factors influencing oil extraction like solvents, mean particle size, temperature, aging of seeds andreaction time are statistically analyzed. The optimal bio-oil yield of 27.03% is attained from the pulverized seeds aged 5 days with particle size of 0.2 mm with hexane as the solvent for the reaction time of 3.5 h at 65°C using soxhlet theapparatus method. The calorific value of the bio-oil is found to be 38.79 MJ/Kg, which is comparatively higher than other bio-oils. newline newline