Nano-Magnetic CaO/Fe2O3/Feldspar Catalysts for the Production of Biodiesel from Waste Oils

Production of biodiesel from edible vegetable oils using homogenous catalysts negatively impacts food availability and cost while generating significant amounts caustic wastewater during purification. Thus, there is an urgent need to utilize low-cost, non-food feedstocks for the production sustainable heterogeneous catalysis. The objective this study was synthesize a novel supported nano-magnetic catalyst (CaO/Fe2O3/feldspar) (fatty acid methyl esters) waste low-cost plant seed oils, including Sinapis arvensis (wild mustard), Carthamus oxyacantha safflower) Pongamia pinnata (karanja). structure, morphology, surface area, porosity, crystallinity, magnetization confirmed XRD, FESEM/EDX, BET, VSM. maximum yield (93.6–99.9%) achieved at 1.0 or 1.5 wt.% with methanol-to-oil molar ratios 5:1 10:1 40 °C 2 h. CaO/Fe2O3/feldspar retained high activity four consecutive cycles conversion karanja, wild mustard, safflower oils. effective separation external magnet. Various different physico-chemical parameters, such as pour point, density, cloud iodine value, cetane number, were also determined optimized fuels found be within ranges specified in ASTM D6751 EN 14214, where applicable.