Statistical Optimisation using Taguchi Method for transesterification of Reutealis Trisperma Oil to Biodiesel on CaO-ZnO Catalysts

Optimisation of biodiesel production from non-edible Reutealis Trisperma oil (RTO) was investigated using Taguchi method. Biodiesel was produced via consecutive esterification and transesterification reactions. Esterification of RTO was carried out using acid catalyst to decrease the amount of free fatty acid from 2.24% to 0.09%. Subsequent transesterification of the treated oil with methanol over a series of CaO-ZnO catalysts was optimized based on the L9 Taguchi orthogonal approach. The optimization parameters are Ca/Zn ratio (0.25, 0.5, and 1), methanol/oil ratio (10, 20, and 30) and reaction time (0.5, 1, and 2 h). The CaO-ZnO catalysts at variation of Ca/Zn ratios were prepared using co-precipitation method and characterized using XRD, SEM, TEM, and FTIR analysis. The amount of methyl ester yield was used as the response parameter in the S/N ratio analysis and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The optimum parameter for RTO transesterification to biodiesel was determined at Ca/Zn ratio of 1, methanol oil ratio of 30 and reaction time for 2 h. Transesterification under these optimized parameter generated 98% of biodiesel yield, inferring the validity of the statistical approach. Furthermore, ANOVA analysis also confirmed that all the parameters were significantly contributed at approximately equal percentage towards the amount of biodiesel.