CaO Preparation from Ale-Ale (Meretrix meretrix) Shell As A Catalyst for Methyl Ester Production from Waste Cooking Oil Syahrul Khairi1*, Teguh Prasetyo1, Yusep Listiawan1, Sri Rezeki1, Tania Avianda Gusman2, Ari Yustisia Akbar3, Usman A. Gani1
1Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Tanjungpura, Jln. Prof. Dr. H. Hadari Nawawi, Pontianak, Kalimantan Barat, Indonesia 78124
2Chemistry Education Program, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Universitas Muhammadiyah Cirebon, Cirebon, Indonesia
3Research Center for Metallurgical and Material, Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional, Serpong, Indonesia
Abstract
The potential of West Kalimantan, Indonesia Ale-ale shell (Meretrix meretrix) as a precursor of calcium oxide and its application as a catalyst in the transesterification reaction of waste cooking oil into methyl ester has been investigated. Ale-ale shell powder was prepared by mashing and sieved with a 100 mesh sieve. The Ale-ale shell powder was calcined at temperatures of 873, 1073, and 1273 K to obtain calcium oxide (CaO). Diffractogram data showed that pure CaO was produced from the calcination of shell powder at 1273 K with a yield of 55.1%. CaO performance was tested in the transesterification reaction of waste cooking oil into methyl ester. Esterification was carried out using methanol and sulfuric acid as pretreatment prior the transesterification to reduce the free fatty acid content in the used cooking oil. Transesterification reaction has been performed at 338 K for 3 hours with the ratio of oil:catalyst 1:10 w/t% and oil:methanol 1:12 mol. Besides glycerol, the product obtained was methyl ester with a yield of 59.1%. The main content of the product was methyl palmitate approximately 43.7% of the total methyl ester. The obtained results showed that the ale-ale shell is potentially used as a source and precursor of a transesterification catalyst.
