Sodium hydroxide-catalyzed transesterification of used cooking oil: optimization for methyl ester production

Date

6-2015

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering

College

College of Engineering and Agro-Industrial Technology (CEAT)

Adviser/Committee Chair

Rex B. Demafelis

Restrictions

Restricted: Not available to the general public. Access is available only after consultation with author/thesis adviser and only to those bound by the confidentiality agreement.

Abstract

The production of methyl esters from the sodium-hydroxide catalyzed transesterification of used cooking oil was studied and optimized. The parameters chosen were: methanol-to-oil ratio, sodium hydroxide concentration, temperature and reaction time. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used to determine the optimum solution for the system and suggested the following conditions: a methanol-to-oil molar ratio of 6.51 mol/mol, sodium hydroxide-to-oil molar ratio of 0.171 mol/mol, temperature of 47.0°C, and reaction time of 60.61 minutes. The time profile for the system was also studied using the optimum conditions and it was observed that at 30 minutes, the methyl ester purity was already 98.31%. Two trials for the yield determination run was also conducted and from the optimum conditions specified, the average methyl ester purity was also 98.20% and the average mass yield was 78.56%. From the optimum conditions derived from the numerical optimization of the mathematical model and also the analysis of time profile runs, the optimum conditions for the sodium hydroxide-catalyzed transesterification of used cooking oil were found to be:methanol-to-oil molar ratio of 6.52, sodium hydroxide-to-oil molar ratio of 0.171 mol/mol, temperature of 47.0°C and a reaction time of 30 minutes.

Language

English

Location

UPLB College of Engineering and Agro-Industrial Technology (CEAT)

Call Number

LG 993.5 2015 E62 /C78

Document Type

Thesis

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