Evaluating cocoa pod ash as a heterogeneous catalyst for biodiesel production: The case of Fundo Gibaja, Quillabamba, Cusco

Conza Guzman P.; Justo Chacon A.; Lama J.-C. · Proceedings of the LACCEI international Multi-conference for Engineering, Education and Technology (2026) · DOI: 10.18687/laccei2026.1.1.1066

Resumen

This study presents a heterogeneous catalyst synthesized from calcined cocoa pod residue (CMC) for biodiesel production from used vegetable oil (UVO). Although this residue has been little explored as a base material for catalyst synthesis, this work demonstrates its potential as a source of potassium carbonate (K2CO3) responsible for basicity and catalytic activity. The material was obtained by calcination at 700 °C for 4 h and characterized using energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area analysis (BET). The catalytic activity was evaluated in the transesterification process under conditions of 60 minutes, a methanol-to-oil molar ratio of 6:1, stirring speed of 250 rpm, and catalyst loadings of 2-3 wt%. The CMC catalyst was compared to a commercial potassium carbonate (K2CO3) catalyst. The biocatalyst achieved a maximum biodiesel yield of 99.0% (at 2 wt%), maintaining it at 98.9% (at 3 wt). In comparison, the commercial catalyst yielded 96.5% and 98.0%, respectively. The resulting biodiesel was evaluated using physicochemical tests, confirming that its density and kinematic viscosity met the values established by ASTM D1298 and ASTM D445, respectively.

Instituciones: Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas