Application of Taguchi Experimental Design for Optimization of Biodiesel Production by Transesterification of used Cooking Oil with Methanol

摘要

In this work Taguchi method was used for the optimization of experimental parameters such as catalyst concentration, molar ratio of methanol to oil, reaction temperature, and reaction time on transesterification for the production of used cooking oil methyl ester. The optimum conditions for used cooking oil methyl ester production were a catalyst concentration of 1.5 grams, methanol amount of 20% by volume, a reaction temperature of 50℃, and a reaction time of 60 minutes. The methyl ester content under these optimum conditions was 94% by volume which was very close to the predicted (96.67% by volume) biodiesel yield. Results obtained from Taguchi method match closely with ANOVA and reaction temperature is the most influential parameter in the production of used cooking oil methyl ester.