Microwave-assisted transesterification of kusum oil: Parametric, kinetic and thermodynamic studies

Abstract

Microwave-assisted transesterification of non-edible oil to produce biodiesel is gaining attention due to lower heat loss as well as rapid conversion. In this study, esterified kusum oil as a feedstock was transesterified in the presence of Ba(OH)2. At 800 W microwave power and constant magnetic stirring the effect of important process parameters such as solvent methanol molar ratio, Ba(OH)2, temperature, and time on biodiesel yield were evaluated. The parametric study suggested that 9:1 M methanol, 65 ºC reaction temperature, 2.5 wt% Ba(OH)2 catalyst and 3.5 min of transesterification time gave close to 96% biodiesel yield. At the above conditions of methanol and catalyst, the reaction kinetics and thermodynamic study were performed using different time intervals. The microwave-assisted transesterification followed pseudo-first-order reaction rate with 34.57 kJ/mol K activation energy and 205664 min-1 frequency factor. The reduction in activation energy and increase in the frequency factor reveal the non-thermal effect associated with microwave heating. The thermodynamic properties evaluated using the Eyring equation suggests non-spontaneity and endothermic nature of transesterification.