Eco-friendly self-terminated process for preparation of CaO catalyst based on chitosan production wastes for biodiesel production

One of the major obstacles to the realization of a sustainable planet is the handling of liquid waste, which is where Chitosan production waste (CPW) have been becoming a significant environmental issue. Chitosan production waste derived CaO catalyst (CPW-CaO) was synthesized through a self-termination precipitation of acidic waste (de-mineralization step) with alkali waste (de-proteination/de-acetylation) then calcination and utilized as an eco-friendly and cost-effective catalyst to generate biodiesel from Soybean deodorizer distillate oil (SDDO). XRD, EDS, FTIR, SEM, and BET were used to characterize CPW-CaO. The catalyst demonstrated exceptional catalytic performance in the conversion of SDDO to sustainable biodiesel which matched the EN fuel specifications at 8% catalyst dosage, 12:1 ration of methanol to SDDO, 2 h, and 65 °C reaction temperature as optimum conditions that yielding a 97.1% conversion. For the first four reaction cycles, the CPW-CaO catalyst was able to produce a comparatively high conversion of biodiesel, according to the reusability study. The catalyst regeneration can be recycled for more than four cycles to produce a comparatively high biodiesel yield. The results of this study provide a cost-effective and ecologically friendly method for producing biodiesel.