Abstract
In the present study, optimization of biodiesel production from castor oil was investigated. The biodiesel was produced in a large lab reactor (3 L) by an acid-catalyzed transesterification process, which was designed according to 2(3) full factorial central composite design (CCD). The response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the reaction conditions to achieve maximum % fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) yield. Based on a second-order polynomial equation the optimum values of the three independent parameters thus obtained were 25:1 methanol/oil molar ratio, 3 vol. % catalyst amount and 60 degrees C reaction temperature. According to the experimental results, this process gave an average % FAME yield of 76.95%. The fatty acid composition of the oil was analyzed using a gas chromatograph (GC). The developed response surface model was also validated with two different, additional sets of experimental data, and its predictions were found to be within +/- 5% deviation. Using the RSM, the effect of variation in operating parameters as methanol/oil molar ratio, catalyst amount and reaction temperature and their interaction on % fatty acid methyl ester yield were also studied.