Synthesis of novel heterogeneous catalysts and their application for transesterification is a convenient and non-toxic way for the production of transportation fuel. Potassium zirconate heterogeneous solid base catalyst was prepared by impregnation and was used as a potential catalyst for the production of biodiesel from Jatropha curcas oil. Influence of main reaction parameters on the reaction yield such as reaction time, methanol to oil molar ration and catalyst weight were studied under various reaction conditions to obtain the maximum yield. The maximum yield of fatty acid methyl esters obtained was 94.19 % for the transesterification reaction over the potassium zirconate catalyst with a catalyst to oil weight percentage of 6 and methanol to oil molar ratio of 12 at 65°C for 3 hours. The biodiesel produced under the optimum reaction condition was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.
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