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Design and development of a highly efficient reusable zeolite impregnated ZnAl2O4 catalyst for biodiesel production

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Abstract

As the demand for sustainable energy sources expands, the production of biodiesel has attracted great attention. The development of effective and ecologically friendly biodiesel catalysts has become an urgent need. In this context, the goal of this study is to develop a composite solid catalyst with enhanced efficiency, reusability, and reduced environmental impact. For that, eco-friendly, and reusable composite solid catalysts have been designed by impregnating different amounts of zinc aluminate into a zeolite matrix (ZnAl2O4@Zeolite). Structural and morphological characterizations confirmed the successful impregnation of zinc aluminate into the zeolite porous structure. Catalytic experiments revealed that the catalyst containing 15 wt% ZnAl2O4 showed the highest conversion activity of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) of 99% under optimized reaction conditions, including 8 wt% catalyst, a molar ratio of 10:1 methanol to oil, a temperature of 100 °C, and 3 h of reaction time. The developed catalyst demonstrated high thermal and chemical stability, maintaining good catalytic activity even after five cycles. Furthermore, the produced biodiesel quality assessment has demonstrated good properties in compliance with the criteria of the American Society for Testing and Materials ASTM-D6751 and the European Standard EN14214. Overall, the findings of this study could have a significant impact on the commercial production of biodiesel by offering an efficient and environmentally friendly reusable catalyst, ultimately reducing the cost of biodiesel production.

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Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Physical-Chemistry of Materials and Catalysis (LPCMC), Faculty of Sciences Ben M’sik, University Hassan II of Casablanca, Casablanca, Morocco

    Youness Bouhaj & Abdeslam El Bouari

  2. Laboratory of Inorganic Materials for Sustainable Energy Technologies (LIMSET), Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), Lot 660-Hay Moulay Rachid, Ben Guerir, Morocco

    Youness Bouhaj, Hanane Ait Ousaleh & Abdessamad Faik

  3. MAScIR Foundation, VARENA Center, Rabat Design, Rue Mohamed El Jazouli, Madinat Al Irfane, 10100, Rabat, Morocco

    Said Sair, Othmane Amadine, Houda Maati & Mohamed Zahouily

  4. Laboratory of Materials, Catalysis and Valorization of Natural Resources, FST-Mohammedia, University Hassan II of Casablanca, Casablanca, Morocco

    Mohamed Zahouily

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  1. Youness Bouhaj
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  2. Said Sair
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  3. Hanane Ait Ousaleh
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  4. Othmane Amadine
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  5. Houda Maati
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  6. Mohamed Zahouily
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  7. Abdessamad Faik
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Contributions

Youness Bouhaj: conceptualization, investigation, methodology, mathematical analysis, validation, writing—original draft; Said Sair: data curation, writing—review and editing; Hanane Ait Ousaleh: formal analysis, data curation, writing—review and editing; Othmane Amadine: formal analysis, data curation, writing—review and editing; Houda Maati: data curation, writing—review and editing; Abdessamad Faik: project administration, writing—review and editing; Mohamed Zahouily: project administration, writing—review and editing; Abdeslam El Bouari: project administration, writing—review and editing.

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Correspondence to Said Sair.

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Bouhaj, ., Sair, S., Ait Ousaleh, H. et al. Design and development of a highly efficient reusable zeolite impregnated ZnAl2O4 catalyst for biodiesel production. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 86773–86789 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-28551-4

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