Optimization of Biodiesel Production from Waste Cooking Oil in a Continuous Mesoscale Oscillatory Baffled Reactor

In this study, a mesoscale oscillatory baffled reactor (OBR) was used to synthesize high methyl esters from waste cooking oil (WCO) in an alcoholic hydroxide solution. Preliminary experiments were conducted to screen for appropriate oscillating frequency and reaction temperature for the transesterification of WCO. Response surface methodology (RSM) based on the Box-Behnken design (BBD) was employed to investigate the influence of residence time, amount of catalyst and methanol-to-oil molar ratio on the fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) content of the product obtained from the OBR. Based on the response surface approach, the optimum operating conditions for this process were as: a residence time of 60 s, a catalyst content of 3.0%, and a methanol-to-oil molar ratio of 11. The physical and chemical properties of the product obtained were found to meet the standards.