Batch to batch variation study for biodiesel production by hydrothermal carbon catalyst: preparation, characterization and its application

Abstract In the present study, the esterification of oleic acid with methanol was studied in batch to batch method over hydrothermal carbon catalyst (HTCC) from Ziziphus Mauritiana L. . The synthesized catalyst was characterized by FT-IR, XRD, XPS, SEM, and BET analysis. The surface area and acid density of prepared HTCC were found to be 15.97 m 2 g −1 and 2.53 mmol g −1 , respectively. Statistical analysis was performed by using ANOVA, mean, standard deviation and variance method. Statistically there is no significant difference among the means of the 4 variables at the 95% confidence level and the P-value of the F-test is equal to or greater than the 0.05. The maximum oleic acid conversions from methanol were obtained upto 91%. Furthermore, reusability and regeneration study were also carried out to assess to check catalytic performance. The study reveals that HTCC obtained from Ziziphus Mauritiana L. is an excellent catalyst and can be used for esterification of oleic acid to produce biodiesel.