Optimization of biodiesel production from Argemone mexicana oil using Taguchi model

Abstract

The Taguchi technique has been used in this study to optimise the production parameters of biodiesel made from Argemone mexicana seed oil for maximum yield. This biodiesel has been produced through the transesterification process of non-edible vegetable oil of Argemone mexicana seeds. The molar ratio (A), Catalyst concentration (B), and reaction time or heating time (C) were chosen as the three factors that have a substantial impact on biodiesel production. All three factors are considered at three levels for experimental runs according to the L9 orthogonal array. The Biodiesel yield percentage was then measured for every experimental run. The signal to noise ratio has been calculated using the statistical software Minitab, based on the larger is better criterion. After analysing the Taguchi response table, the optimum level of all the parameters has been found out. The ANOVA technique was also applied to get the most significant factors that affect the biodiesel yield by calculating the percentage contribution of each factor. According to our results, the best combination of all the factors for Biodiesel yield is A3B3C1. The utmost and least influencing factors for Biodiesel production were heating time and molar ratio, with their contribution factors of 57.31% and 10.96%, respectively. Thus, the order of credence of all the three factors was CBA.