Taguchi method approach towards optimization of Egusi Methyl Ester synthesis
2014
S. Z. Razali | Chuah, L. A.
In the present work, the Taguchi Method, based on L9 orthogonal array, is used to determine the optimum conditions for the transesterification of crude egusi melon (Colocynthis citrullus L.) seed oil. Three process factors are evaluated at three levels: reaction temperature, the catalyst loading and the oil/methanol molar ratio. Signal-to-Noise (SIN) ratio and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) are used as the statistical tools to analyze the data resulted from the designated experiments. It is observed that catalyst loading is the most influential factor with 73.96% contribution followed by temperature and oil:methanol molar ratio which are 16.10% and 9.57% contributions respectively. The highest yield of EMOME based on the taguchi design of experiment was 80.26% at 1.25% catalyst amount, 1:7 oil-to-methanol molar ratio and reaction temperature is 65°c. Effectiveness of taguchi method had been confirmed by 6.36% yield improvement as the verification to the suggested optimal parameters (65°c reaction temperature, 1.25% catalyst loading and 1:7 oil:methanol molar ratio).
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