Utilization of Scallop Waste Shell for Biodiesel Production from Palm Oil – Optimization Using Taguchi Method

The optimization of experimental parameters, such as reaction time, reaction temperature, methanol/oil molar ratio and catalyst loading, on the transesterification for the production of biodiesel has been studied. A Taguchi L9 (34) orthogonal array was used to evaluate the factors affecting the conversion of palm oil to fatty acid methyl ester (FAME). The scallop waste shell was calcined at 1,000 °C for 4 h and catalyst characterizations were carried out by XRD, XRF, SEM, and BET surface area measurements. Under the optimal reaction conditions of 10 wt.% of catalyst, 9:1 methanol/oil molar ratio and at a temperature of 65 °C, the FAME conversion was 95.44% and it was achieved in 3 h. It was found that the scallop waste shell catalyst shows high catalytic activity and ecologically friendly properties, having the potential opportunity to be used in biodiesel production process as heterogeneous base catalyst.