Multi input multi output optimisation of waste cooking oil methanolysis for conventional biodiesel production

Abstract

This research studied the optimization of biodiesel production from conventional sodium hydroxide (NaOH) homogenous catalyst and waste cooking oil (WCO) using central composite design-based response surface methodology (CCD-RSM), compared with artificial neural network (ANN). The input parameters (methanol: oil ratio, catalyst dosage, agitation rate, reaction time and temperature) were studied for their comparative impact on biodiesel output parameters (yield, viscosity, flashpoint, cetane number and cloud point). The optimization process produced optimized values of 87.47 % and 89.40% respectively for the experimental yield of 90% for the CCD-RSM and ANN respectively at the optimal conditions of methanol-to-oil molar ratio of 6:1, catalyst concentration of 0.5 wt%, agitation rate of 300 rpm, reaction time of 50 min at 50 oC reaction temperature.....