| Summary: | In this research, biodiesel was produced by transesterification of rubber seed oil with methanol catalyzed by three types of alumina-supported catalyst. The catalysts were Al2O3-CaO, Al2O3-KI, and Al2O3-CaO-KI. The catalysts were prepared by heating a mixture of alumina and the corresponding salt in a furnace at 700oC. Transesterification reactions were carried out at 65 °C using a mixture of rubber seed oil: methanol of mass ratio 1:9 with different catalyst loadings between 0 and 3.5%. The optimum catalyst loading was at 2.0% for all types of catalyst and Al2O3-CaO-KI gave the highest yield (91.6%) followed by Al2O3-KI (90.7%) and Al2O3-CaO (63.5%). The catalyst Al2O3-CaO-KI also gave high biodiesel yields over a wider range of catalyst loadings compared to the other two catalysts. Reactions were also carried out at different temperatures (25, 40 and 65°C). It was observed that the yield increased drastically with increasing reaction temperature. At all temperatures the Al2O3-CaO-KI catalyst gave the highest yield. Therefore, the study showed that among these three catalysts the most productive was Al2O3-CaO-KI, (100:30:35). © 2018, Malaysian Society of Analytical Sciences. All rights reserved.
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