Application of Box–Behnken design in optimization of biodiesel yield from Pongamia oil and its stability analysis

Abstract

The present paper implements the Box–Behnken response surface methodology for maximizing the biodiesel yield from Pongamia oil by optimizing the four process variables. A biodiesel yield of 98.4% was achieved with methanol/oil molar ratio (11.06:1) using KOH as catalyst (1.43% w/w) in 81.43min at a temperature of 56.6°C. But the major problem associated with Pongamia biodiesel is its poor oxidation stability. This paper also investigates the methodology to improve the oxidation stability characteristics of Pongamia biodiesel. The result of investigation show that the use of antioxidant Pyrogallol (200ppm) significantly improve the induction period from 1.83h to 6.5h for Pongamia biodiesel while PB10 blend can maintain its stability without any antioxidant.