Abstract:
Coconut seeds was investigated for its use as biodiesel feedstock. Oi
l was
extracted from coconut seeds using soxhlet extraction method where 67.2% yield
of oil was obtained. Biodiesel synthesis was developed and optimized using
Box
-
Behnken design in Response Surface Methodology to study the effect of
experimental variable
s such as methanol to oil ratio, catalyst concentration,
reaction temperature and reaction time on the extracted oil from coconut seeds.
The model shows optimum conditions of biodiesel yield of 79% were found at 6:1
alcohol/oil ratio, 1% catalyst concentra
tion (KOH), reaction temperature of 65
0
C
and reaction time of 40 min. respectively. At the end of experimental design it
was found that the catalyst concentration and reaction time significantly affect the
biodiesel yield than the molar ratio among others
under the range of values
studied. The produced biodiesel was analyzed for its physicochemical and
characterized for its fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) profile using GC
-
MS. The fuel
properties of biodiesel obtained showed that except cetane number, diesel
index
and sulphur content that were higher than the recommended ASTM values all
other determined properties were within the ASTM specification indicating that its
quite suitable
as an alternative source of fuel.
