Kinetics and optimization studies using Response Surface Methodology in biodiesel production using heterogeneous catalyst

Biodiesel is an eco-friendly fuel is known to be an alternative source for fossil fuels. Many studies reported transesterification based reaction methods for biodiesel production from edible/non-edible oils. In this study, Calcium Oxide (CaO) has been used as a heterogeneous catalyst for transesterification of palm oil to biodiesel. Effect of process parameters such as temperature, reaction time and Methanol to oil molar ratio on biodiesel production is analyzed using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) based on Box-Behnken Design: (BBD) in statistica, with fixed catalyst concentration as an input parameter. In the present study, 3 level, 3-factor Box-Behnken statistical design was used to analyze and optimize the biodiesel production with respect to the percentage yield of Fatty Acid Methyl Esters (FAME). This has been done with 15 standard experimental runs. Kinetics of the reaction have been assumed to be of pseudo first order. Obtained biodiesel is found to be of high quality with a high FAME yield; and CaO is found to have high catalytic activity towards biodiesel production. (C) 2018 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.