Development of a Predictive Model Using Response Surface Methodology for the Parametric Standardisation of Methanol Recovery from Transesterified Oil | Chapter 3 | New Horizons of Science, Technology and Culture Vol. 6

 

The biodiesel production process is carried out worldwide by using methanol and a suitable catalyst. Methanol is highly toxic and hazardous to nature; hence, it is beneficial if methanol is removed from Biodiesel before its use. The traditional method of removing the excess methanol from biodiesel is through the use of wash water, which is not only economically beneficial. The present study on the Development of a Predictive Model for Parametric standardisation of Methanol Recovery from Transesterified Oil was carried out with major emphasis on maximum recovery of methanol from biodiesel before separation of glycerol. A predictive model using response surface methodology (RSM) was developed to optimise the operating conditions for distillation. Confirmatory experiments on standardised parametric conditions were also carried out to validate the model for the condition of maximising methanol recovery by comparing the predicted value with the actual amount of methanol recovered. The standardised parametric conditions for the highest recovery of methanol as predicted by the model are a temperature of distillation of 90 0C, a vacuum pressure of 121.5 mm of Hg, time of distillation of 27.8 min. and circulating water temperature through the condenser as 10 0C. The model predicted 28.7 g methanol recovery at the above condition. The predicted value of methanol recovery was found close to the actual amount of methanol recovered (28.8 g) at the optimised parametric conditions, indicating high accuracy of the developed model. The recovery of methanol has been found to be significantly affected by distillation temperature, vacuum pressure and time of distillation.

 

 

Author(s) Details

Sanjay K. Choudhary
Department of Farm Machinery & Power Engineering, College of Agricultural Engineering, Dr Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa (Bihar), India.

 

T. K. Bhattacharya
Department of Farm Machinery & Power Engineering, G. B. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar-263 145, India.

 

V. B. Shambhu
National Institute of Research on Jute & Allied Fibres Technology, 12, Regent Park, Kolkata - 700 040, India.

 

Please see the book here :- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/nhstc/v6/6584