Response Surface Methodology for Biodiesel Production Using Calcium Methoxide Catalyst Assisted with Tetrahydrofuran as Cosolvent

The present study was performed to optimize a heterogeneous calcium methoxide (Ca(OCH3)2) catalyzed transesterification process assisted with tetrahydrofuran (THF) as a cosolvent for biodiesel production from waste cooking oil. Response surface methodology (RSM) with a 5-level-4-factor central composite design was applied to investigate the effect of experimental factors on the percentage of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) conversion. A quadratic model with an analysis of variance obtained from the RSM is suggested for the prediction of FAME conversion and reveals that 99.43% of the observed variation is explained by the model. The optimum conditions obtained from the RSM were 2.83 wt% of catalyst concentration, 11.6 : 1 methanol-to-oil molar ratio, 100.14 min of reaction time, and 8.65% v/v of THF in methanol concentration. Under these conditions, the properties of the produced biodiesel satisfied the standard requirement. THF as cosolvent successfully decreased the catalyst concentration, methanol-to-oil molar ratio, and reaction time when compared with biodiesel production without cosolvent. The results are encouraging for the application of Ca(OCH3)2 assisted with THF as a cosolvent for environmentally friendly and sustainable biodiesel production.

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