OPTIMIZATION AND ESTERIFICATION OF KAPOK SEED OIL VIA ULTRASONICATION ASSISTED TECHNOLOGY

Energy and vegetable oil prices have caused many biodiesel producers to turn to seed oil as feedstock. These oils contain high levels of free fatty acids (FFA) which make them difficult or impossible to convert to biodiesel by conventional production methods. Esterification is required for high FFA feedstock such as Kapok seed oil. FFA value must be low in order to produce biodiesel. High FFA value will result in soap production. In addition, ultrasonication technique has the potential to reduce the amount of catalyst used, reaction temperature, reaction time and oil to alcohol ratio relative to conventional method. The study determined that ultrasonication assisted technique can save a lot of time and energy for the esterification process in order to reduce the free fatty acid content of the Kapok seed oil. The objective of this project is to reduce the FFA content of the feedstock and to optimize using RSM. The experiment will be using Kapok seed oil, methanol (CH3OH), and sulphuric acid (H2SO4). The free fatty acid content of the Kapok seed oil will be first determined. The Kapok seed oil will then be reacted with methanol as an alcohol and sulphuric acid to reduce the free fatty acid of the oil. The catalyst for the reaction will be sulphuric acid (H2SO4). The reaction between Kapok seed oil and methanol will be conducted using ultrasonication method. After determining the FFA% of the Kapok seed oil which is 6 wt. %, the oil will undergo esterification process via ultrasonication to reduce the FFA content. This process results in significant FFA reduction and based on the optimized condition, the FFA content is (0.44%). The optimization is done using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The optimized parameters are (19.22:1) for alcohol to oil ratio, 6.83 wt. % for catalyst amount, 22.76 minutes for reaction time and at a frequency of 39.61 kHz. Therefore, this project shows that Kapok Seed Oil has to potential to be a feedstock to produce biodiesel.