Utilization of spray-dried nanoporous gamma alumina support in biodiesel production from waste cooking oil

Gamma alumina is one of the widely used supports in catalyst preparation, possessing a high specific surface area and good thermal stability. Spray drying is an efficient way to produce narrow particle size distribution and spherical shape powders. In this study, spray drying method has been implemented to prepare microspherical nanoporous gamma alumina with a high specific surface area. The nanoporous gamma alumina support was utilized in the preparation of various heterogeneous base catalysts. The highest biodiesel yield of 99% was obtained at 6 wt% loading of K/γ-Al2O3catalyst, using waste cooking oil as feedstock. The obtained results revealed the great potential of the synthesized nanoporous gamma alumina as an effective support for heterogeneous base catalysts preparation in the transesterification reaction.