Investigation of the Effect of Process Parameters and Kinetics on Sulphuric Acid-Sodium Hydroxide Catalyzed Transesterification of Mango Seed Oil

Fatty acid ethyl ester synthesized by transesterification reaction of triglycerides with alcohol is a contemporary energy source that has gained the attention of many researchers due to various benefit associated with its usage. This research focused on the production of fatty acid ethyl ester from mango seed oil through transesterification reaction using acid-base catalytic method. It was observed that the maximum reaction rate was obtained at a stirrer speed of 500rpm, catalyst concentration of 1% and ethanol/oil molar ratio of 6:1 after a reaction time of 1 hour. The results showed that the yield of ethyl ester increased with increase in molar ratio up to 6:1 and at a temperature of 65oC for the reaction time of 1 hour, the molar ratio of 6:1 of ethanol/oil is the best condition for transesterification reaction of mango seed to biodiesel fuel. The kinetics of transesterification reaction was also investigated and its parameters showed that the reaction followed a second order with an overall rate constant 3.9 × 10−2 (%wt/wt min ◦C) −1 and a regression value of 0.9504. The activation energy for the reaction was estimated to be 94.23J/mol. The properties of the fatty acid-ethyl ester met the requirement for ASTM D6751 and EN 14214 standards for biodiesel. This implies that the biodiesel produced from mango seed oil using ethanol, a 100% renewable energy source is of acceptable quality and can be substituted for fossil-based diesel.