MICROWAVE-ASSISTED TECHNIQUE FOR BIODIESEL PRODUCTION FROM CEIBA PENTANDRA SEED OIL

The continual use of fossil fuels has caused serious detrimental impacts on
environment as well as human life. Biodiesel as a renewable energy resource has
shown a positive effect on resolving environmental problems and helping to fulfil
energy demand in the future. Due to economic and social concerns, the use of edible
vegetable oils should be replaced by non-edible plant oils for biodiesel production.
Thus, the oil from tropical plant Ceiba Pentandra is an attractive potential feedstock.
Nowadays, a great attention has been paid to advanced microwave technology, a
potential means to markedly enhance the biodiesel production process. In this study,
response surface methodology (RSM) based on central composite design (CCD) was
employed to investigate the influence of four process parameters, i.e. catalyst
concentration, methanol to oil molar ratio, temperature and time on the response, and
optimum conditions towards the reduction of free fatty acids (FFA) and conversion
of biodiesel under microwave irradiation.