Synthesis of Biobased Composite Heterogeneous Catalyst for Biodiesel Production Using Simplex Lattice Design Mixture: Optimization Process by Taguchi Method

Abstract

The use of biobased heterogeneous catalysts made from agricultural waste for producing biodiesel has gained attention for its potential to create a sustainable and low-cost process. The blending of two or more biomass residues to create more viable biobased catalysts is still in its early stages. In this study, a Biobased Composite Heterogeneous Catalyst (CHC) was made by blending the shells of periwinkle (PWS), melon seed-husk (MSH), and locust bean pod-husk (LBP) at a mixing ratio of 67:17:17 using Simplex Lattice Design Mixture, that was then calcined for 4 h at 800 °C. The chemical, structural, and morphological components of the CHC were characterized via XRF, XRD, SEM-EDX, BET, TGA/DSC, and FTIR to assess its catalytic potential. The CHC was employed to synthesize biodiesel from palm kernel oil, and the process optimization was conducted using the Taguchi approach. The XRF analysis showed that the catalyst had 69.049 of Calcium (Ca) and 9.472 of potassium (K) in their elemental and oxide states as 61.592% calcium oxide and 7.919% potassium oxide. This was also supported by the EDX result, that showed an appreciable value of 58.00% of Ca and 2.30% of magnesium, that perhaps provided the active site in the transesterification reaction to synthesize biodiesel. The morphological and physisorption isotherms via SEM and BET showed mesoporous structures in the CHC that were made up of nanoparticles. A high maximum biodiesel yield of 90.207 wt.% was attained under the optimized process conditions. The catalyst could be reused for up to four cycles, and the biodiesel produced met both ASTM D6751 and EN 14214 standards for biodiesel. This study demonstrates that blending PWS, MSH, and LBP waste materials can produce high-quality biodiesel without the need for additional catalysts.

Impact of Process Parameters on Improving the Performance of 3D Printed Recycled Polylactic Acid (PLA) Components

“…Design of experiment is a useful tool to improve the consistency of results whilst minimising the number of experiments without loss of accuracy. The DoE methodology employs orthogonal arrays (OA) to determine the optimal number of trials and their corresponding levels [45]. Numerous types of DoE are described in the literature, such as full factorial design (FFD), central composite design (CCD), definitive screening design (DSD), Box-Behnken design (BBD), and Taguchi method [46].…”

“…The Taguchi method employs a loss function to quantify the difference between the observed and desired values of performance characteristics, which minimises performance variability. This outcome is then converted into a statistical metric called the signal-tonoise ratio (𝑆/𝑁) ratio to determine the optimal level for each control factor and assess the statistical significance of their impact on the response variable, in other words, to measure the process variability [10,45]. The term 'noise' refers to the impact of each factor on each operation, while the term 'signal' denotes the response to changes in each operating variable [73].…”

A Review of Tropical Organic Materials for Biodiesel as a Substitute Energy Source in Internal Combustion Engines: A Viable Solution?

“…As seen from the state of the art, there is a great interest in the scientific community in biodiesel production [115]. It is vital to note, however, that production through tropical cultivars plays a relevant role in developing and disseminating biofuels, which concomitantly necessitates the scientific development of nations located in the tropics [18,116].…”

A New Approach for Synthesizing Fatty Acid Esters from Linoleic-Type Vegetable Oil

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