Process optimization for the production of biodiesel from Azolla Microphylla oil and its fuel characterization

Abstract

The most competent and operative use of renewable feedstock is super critical for the production of biodiesel which has increased attention worldwide pertaining to aquatic fern Azolla. Maximizing the biodiesel yield by optimizing the process parameters of the low-frequency ultrasonic energy-assisted transesterification process of Azolla oil is the need of the hour for minimizing the production cost of biodiesel. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was applied using central composite rotatable design (CCRD) to find the best optimum reaction parameters for this transesterification process. The optimized reaction parameters arrived from the design of experiments were as following: methanol/Azolla oils molar ratio (A)  =  6.49 mole/mole, KOH catalyst concentration (B)  =  1.69 (weight% of oil), reactiion time (C)  =  34.74 min and reaction temperature (D)  =  38.87°C. The best higher theoretical predicted Azolla Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME) yield was Y  =  99.76% which is in well coincidence with the actual yield. The extracted Azolla biodiesel was tested for various fuel properties with standard test procedures and found to be in agreement with various Biodiesel standards and the results are promising in terms of utilizing Azolla oil as an inexhaustible and potentially economical source of biodiesel.