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    BIODIESEL PRODUCTION FROM CASTOR SEED OIL THROUGH TRANSESTERIFICATION WITH METHANOL USING WASTE CHICKEN EGGSHELL AS A NATURAL HETEROGENEOUS CATALYST
    (Mekelle University, 2025-01-25) KINFE GEBREGERGIS GEBREMEDHIN
    he depletion of fossil fuel reserves and growing environmental concerns have increased interest in developing renewable and sustainable energy sources. Biodiesel, a clean-burning alternative fuel derived from vegetable oils or animal fats, has emerged as a promising solution to reduce the dependence on conventional diesel. This study investigates the feasibility of producing biodiesel from castor seed oil through transesterification using waste chicken eggshells as a natural heterogeneous catalyst. Castor seed oil was extracted from castor seed using ethanol. The eggshell catalyst was prepared by calcining chicken eggshells at 900°C for 3 hours to obtain calcium oxide. Different proportions of the parameters methanol-to-oil ratio and calcined waste chicken eggshell catalyst were taken during transesterification to produce biodiesel. The castor oil from 100 g castor seed extraction yielded 46% (48.4 ml). The highest biodiesel yield was observed during the transesterification reaction when the methanol-to-oil ratio was 9:1, and catalyst loading was 3 wt.%. Under these conditions, the biodiesel yield reached 81.6%. Three repeatable reactions were taking place using the optimized catalyst (3%) and their deviation became 1.4. This indicates calcined waste eggshell catalyst exhibited reusability, making it a viable option for the industrial-scale production of biodiesel from castor seed oil. The physicochemical properties of castor biodiesel were changed from castor oil ( density from 0.951g/ml to 0.881 g/ml, viscosity from 132 mm2/sec to 10mm2//sec, and acid value from 3.86 to 0.950). The fuel property test confirmed that the transformation of castor oil into castor biodiesel. In the XRD characterization, the strong peak pattern occurred at 2θ =30º corresponding to the miller index (1 0 4) in the uncalcined waste chicken eggshell and completely disappeared at the XRD peak pattern in calcined waste eggshells. The FT-IR spectra of Castor biodiesel showed an absorption band at 1742 cm-1, 1460 cm-1, and 1166 cm-1 that indicates the ester carbonyl group (-C=O), methoxy group(-OCH3). and ester functional group (C-O-C). The GC-MS spectra recognize 98.4% FAME, 0.6% FAEE, and 0.7% acids. This research demonstrates the potential of utilizing castor seed oil and chicken eggshells for the sustainable production of biodiesel, contributing to the development of renewable energy and circular energy.