Microwave-assisted batch and continuous transesterification of karanja oil: process variables optimization and effectiveness of irradiation

Abstract

The technological advancement in biodiesel production has been the focus area for last the few years and microwave-assisted biodiesel synthesis is one such promising new technology. In the present investigation, microwave irradiation was used to produce biodiesel from non-edible Karanja (Pongamia pinnata) oil in batch and continuous mode. Experiments were conducted to understand the effect of volume of the reaction mixture, irradiation time, and irradiation power on the yield of biodiesel. To increase the effectiveness of the microwave irradiation, biodiesel was synthesized in a continuous tubular reactor at two different holdup volumes. The effect of process parameters viz., irradiation time, irradiation power, and methanol to oil ratio were optimized using Box–Behnken experimental design. The effectiveness of microwave irradiation for the different process conditions have been represented through an effectiveness factor. The results reinforce the advantages of continuous processes over batch processes for the production of biodiesel. The properties of biodiesel, namely ester content, density, viscosity, acid value, and cetane index were analyzed and found to be within the limits as prescribed in ASTM D6751-09 standards. The experimental results that have been obtained in this study would be very useful in the scale-up of the microwave-assisted biodiesel process.