An experimental investigation of direct biodiesel production from castor seed using waste resource as economical catalyst

Abstract

The aim of present study is to evaluate the feasibility of using Soxhlet extractor to produce biodiesel from castor seed in one step. At first, oil extraction was conducted by using methanol and acetone as solvents. The results indicated that with methanol to acetone volume ratio 2:1 in a time of 6 h and oil bath temperature of 75°C, maximum oil extraction yield was achieved. Then the parameters, which had effect on direct biodiesel production of castor seed, were investigated through experimental design. Demineralized water plant sedimentation as an economic catalyst for direct biodiesel production was applied. The findings of statistical analysis showed that all of the parameters had a significant effect on fatty acid methyl ester yield. The optimum conditions that obtained from second‐order model were catalyst concentration of 5.81 wt % and solvent to seed weight ratio 4.53:1 in methanol to acetone volume ratio 2:1, reaction temperature 75°C, and reaction time of 8 h. © 2019 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 38:e13146, 2019