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The increasing pollution levels, rising energy demand, and the inadequacy of conventional fuels have spurred interest in alternative sources of fossil fuel supply and demand. This problem has shifted the focus towards the examination of a promising sustainable alternative for diesel fuels. In this sense, biodiesel can be a more suitable candidate for energy, environmentally harmless, and cost-competitive approach to respond to the energy demand. The application of ultrasonic energy in biodiesel production via transesterification has been endorsed as an efficient approach that improves mass transfer factors resulting in decreased reaction times and potentially lower process expense. This study investigates the advancements in ultrasonic energy for biodiesel generation from various raw materials utilizing different catalysts. A critical assessment of the current approach is furnished, emphasizing the application of ultrasonic irradiation. Besides, in order to better understand ultrasonic energy, each ultrasonic cavitation (UC) and hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) is discussed. Regarding each approach, the fundamental concepts are discussed in detail. Generally, the present study aims at conveying a comprehensive overview of ultrasonic energy usage in transesterification reactions and furnishing an outlook on prospective developments in the technology.

The growing fuel demands and drastic restrictions of politics on greenhouse gas emissions are motivating bioenergy research. In this paper, the yield improvement of the produced biodiesel from canola oil using the transesterification process, in attendance of ZnO nanocatalyst and ultrasound waves, was investigated. The crystal size, morphology, and particle size of the prepared nanoparticles were recognized by applying Xray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transverse electron microscopy (TEM) analyses, respectively. The size of ZnO nanoparticles was 45 nm with a hexagonal-shaped structure. The response surface methodology (RSM) and the Box Behnken design (BBD) were employed to analyze the impact of the independent variables on biodiesel production yield. The reliability of the proposed model was verified by applying the analysis of variance (ANOVA) to evaluate response. Regarding the yield, satisfactory accordance was obtained between the calculated and prognosticated data from RSM, with R2= 0.9910 and R2 adj= 0.9748. The optimum reaction conditions were acquired at a methanol to oil molar ratio of 11.19:1 mol: mol, ultrasound irradiation time of 31.98 min, and nanocatalyst amount of 3.17 wt.%. The optimum value for the sonobiodiesel yield was achieved equal to 90.16%. Moreover, the kinetic study exhibited that the values of activation energy and Arnius frequency factor were achieved 46.23 kJ mol-1 and 5.83× 105 min-1, respectively. Accordingly, this research indicated that ZnO nanoparticles can be utilized as a promising and efficient heterogeneous catalyst for biodiesel production.

The growing fuel demands and drastic restrictions of politics on greenhouse gases emissions are motivating towards bioenergy research. In this paper, the yield improvement of the produced biodiesel from canola oil using transesterification process, in attendance of ZnO nanocatalyst and ultrasound waves, was investigated. The crystal size, morphology, and particle size of the prepared nanoparticles were recognized applying X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transverse electron microscopy (TEM) analyses, respectively. The size of ZnO nanoparticles was 45 nm with a hexagonal-shaped structure. The response surface methodology (RSM) and the Box Behnken design (BBD) were employed to analyze the impact of the independent variables on biodiesel production yield. The reliability of the proposed model was verified by applying the analysis of variance (ANOVA) with the objective of evaluating response. Regarding the yield, satisfactory accordance was obtained between the calculated and prognosticated data from RSM, with R2= 0.9910 and R2 adj= 0.9748. The optimum reaction conditions were acquired at methanol to oil molar ratio of 11.19:1 mol: mol, ultrasound irradiation time of 31.98 min, and nanocatalyst amount of 3.17 wt.%. The optimum value for the sono-biodiesel yield was achieved equal to 90.16%. Moreover, the kinetic study exhibited that the values of activation energy and Arnius frequency factor were achieved 46.23 kJ mol-1 and 5.83× 105 min-1, respectively. Accordingly, this research indicated that ZnO nanoparticles can be utilized as a promising and efficient heterogeneous catalyst for biodiesel production.