Renewable energy from biodiesel or fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) has become important in recent decades as one of the promising alternative for petroleum-derived fuel. In this study, chromium based mixed oxide catalysts which are Cr/Ca oxide and Cr/Zn oxide were synthesized via precipitation method and used in the transesterification of cooking palm oil to produce FAME. The reactions were conducted in a batch reactor at temperature of 60 °C, methanol:oil molar ratio of 6:1 and catalyst loading of 1wt%. The characterization through N_2 adsorption-desorption showed BET-surface area, pore volume and pore size of Cr/Ca oxide are 3.6915 m~2/g, 0.00684 cm~3/g and 93.919A, respectively while for Cr/Zn oxide are 3.9897 m~2/g, 0.00630 cm~3/g and 80.113A, respectively. Both catalysts showed similar type isotherm which are type IV and hysterisis loop H3. The catalyst Cr/Ca oxide is found to be more active in the transesterication whereby FAME content of 27.8% was achieved compared to 7.4% by utilizing Cr/Zn oxide. The results showed that Cr/Ca oxide catalyst and Cr/Zn oxide have potential as heterogeneous catalyst to produce FAME from palm oil.
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