DEVELOPMENT AND CHARACTERIZATION OF COAL FLY ASH REINFORCED WITH SILICA OXIDE FOR CATALYTIC GREEN DIESEL PRODUCTION

The prohibitive cost of commercial catalysts has inhibited the production and utilization of biofuel as a reliable alternative to fossil-based fuel. Researchers have suggested the conversion and development of wastes as a panacea forthis challenge. Towards this end,this study investigated the effects of silica oxide (SiO2) as support for coal fly ash (CFA) as a heterogeneous catalyst for green diesel production was investigated. CFA, sourced from a power plant, was pulverized andde veloped into a fine powder while SiO2 was obtained from a commercial supplier. Three samples, namelyCFA, commercial SiO 2, and CFA reinforced with SiO2,were subjected to thermal, spectroscopic, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), and X-ray diffraction characterization processes. The results showed that CFA reinforced with SiO2 showed the mostpotential for catalytic applications as it attained thermal equilibrium at 700 ℃ and withstood temperatures as high as 950 ℃ without thermal degradation.The BET surface area, pore-volume, and micropore volume of CFA increased due to the addition of SiO2to the -1 CFA. Also, the spectroscopic analysis showed that the CFA sample reinforced with SiO2showed distinctive peaks at 430 cm , -1, -1 705 cm and 831 cm which revealedthe presence of Al-O-Si and Si-O-Si bending vibrations, and (Si, Al)-O-(Si, Al) symmetric stretching. The percentage of quartz, mullite, and calcitein CFA increased from 33%, 11.78%, and 1% to 87%, 39% and 5% respectively in the SiO2 reinforced sample. Judgingby the outcome of the characterization, reinforcing CFA with SiO2 has the capacity to improve its catalytic performance in green diesel production.