Box-Behnken Design for Optimization on Esterification of Free Fatty Acids in Waste Cooking Oil Using Modified Smectite Clay Catalyst

A potential alternative fuel option is biodiesel, which produced mostly from natural resources due to the limited availability of petroleum supplies and environmental issues. Waste cooking oil (WCO) containing a high concentration free fatty acid (FFA) can be transformed into substantially benefits environment for reducing . The use smectite clay as catalyst in esterification reaction WCO with methanol was studied. Smectite chemically activated by sulfuric (H2SO4) obtain acid-modified smectite. utilization an acid-catalyzed procedure pre-treatment biodiesel synthesis has been studied some detail. However, there aren't many effective ways optimize this operation. process variables used study's FFAs were optimized using Box-Behnken design (BBD). At atmospheric pressure, amount 5.03 wt%, molar ratio 22.38, time 3.01 h are optimal running parameters accomplishing 97.96% FFA conversion. employed five times row without noticeably lowering its catalytic effectiveness. results showed that essential, low-cost, recyclable WCO.