Effect of Sythesis Conditions of Cr-Ti Mixed Oxides on FAME and Catalyst Characteristics

Abstract Biodiesel or fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) is one of the best alternative renewable energy source and environmental friendly fuel to replace diesel. Cr-Ti mixed oxides catalysts were synthesized via sol-gel method for the transesterification of cooking palm oil (CPO) to produce FAME. The reactions were conducted in a batch reactor. The effects of calcination time and ethanol solvent volume were studied. The calcination time of the Cr-Ti mixed oxides between 1 h to 5 h and ethanol volume between 20 mL to 60 mL shows effect on the FAME density obtained in the reaction. It was also observed that calcination time affects the catalyst surface area, pore diameter and pore volume. The results shows that the Cr-Ti catalyst prepared at 2 h calcination time with 50 mL ethanol volume has the highest surface area, pore volume and pore diameter among the prepared catalysts and obtained FAME density of 841.5 kg/m3. The FAME density is within the value range of the biodiesel fuel property. Thus, Cr-Ti mixed oxides catalyst shows good potential as heterogenesous catalyst for transesterification of CPO to produce FAME.