Abstract:
Calcium Oxide (CaO) is a heterogeneous base catalyst that is often used in the
biodiesel production, one of the sources of CaO is blood cockle shells (Anadara
granosa). Attempted to modify CaO with SiO2 quartz sand to increase its catalytic
activity in the synthesis of biodiesel. This study aims to determine the effect of
adding SiO2 to the CaO catalyst on the yield of biodiesel produced. Characterization
of the CaO-SiO2 catalyst produced by the BET method showed that the surface area
increased with increasing amount of SiO2. Based on the FTIR data, there are OH
functional groups showing Ca(OH)2, Si-O-Si asymmetric stretching vibrations and
Ca-O groups. The maximum biodiesel yield was obtained on a 5% CaO-SiO2
catalyst, which was 70.76% at the condition of an oil:methanol mole ratio of 1:9
with a reaction time of 90 minutes and a catalyst weight of 2 g.
