An ultrasound-assisted process for the optimization of biodiesel production from waste cottonseed cooking oil using response surface methodology

Abstract

Biodiesel is a promising option instead of fossil energy, particularly when non-edible feedstocks are utilized in the production process. To limit the environmental effects of biodiesel production, the production method should be properly chosen and the process variables should be optimized. Ultrasound-based biodiesel synthesis using waste cottonseed cooking oil (WCCO) is significant process. It requires less reaction time and is a highly energy-efficient process. This work focused on a comparison and analysis of optimization results using response surface methodology (RSM) based box-behnken design (BBD) and full factorial design (FFD) methods for a biodiesel production from waste cottonseed cooking oil (WCCO) catalyzed by KOH via an ultrasound (US) based transesterification process and also described the benefits to the environment caused by ultrasound method for producing biodiesel. For optimization of the biodiesel yield following parameters are considered: methyl alcohol: oil ratio (molar ratio) (A), KOH wt % (B), process temperature (C) and found to be methyl alcohol: oil molar ratio: 6:1, KOH wt %: 0.50% reaction temperature: 50 °C, with the process biodiesel yield: 98%. Quadratic polynomial equations are obtained by analyzing experimental values for transesterification reaction. The impact of these parameters on biodiesel yield is inspected and analyzed by different plots. The process variables optimized for biodiesel yield were in a good match for BBD and FFD method.

Keywords

• Biodiesel
• Optimization
• Response surface methodology
• Ultrasound (US) method
• Waste cottonseed cooking oil (WCCO)