Parametric Optimization and Biodiesel Production from Coconut Fatty Acid Distillate

In this study, a low-cost feedstock was chosen for biodiesel production. Coconut fatty acid Distillate (CD) is the by-product collected from coconut oil refineries which contain lauric fatty acid as a major saturated fatty acid. The standard titration procedure was adopted to find Free Fatty Acid (FFA) content. The FFA was found to be 24.5% which requires esterification and transesterification processes to produce biodiesel. In the first stage, FFA was reduced to 1.8% by acid (H2SO4) esterification followed by transesterification to produce biodiesel. The CD BioDiesel (CDBD) production was optimized involving four parameters and three levels of L9 orthogonal array. The optimized parameters were reaction time (40 min), reaction temperature (50 °C), catalyst concentration (0.5%), and methanol to oil ratio (8:1). The order of significance of parameters was determined using ANOVA. The results showed that reaction time had more influence on the biodiesel production whereas methanol to oil ratio had the least influence. A linear regression model was developed to predict the yield and was compared with the experimental values. R2 value for the model was 95%, and the error value is less than 15% indicating a good fit of the model. A maximum yield of 92.9% was obtained utilizing the optimized, which was very close to the prediction. Thus, a low-cost feedstock, which is otherwise marketed as a low-value product, could be utilized in making biodiesel adding sustainability.