Abstract
In this paper, we analysed fatty acid methyl ester contents in the biodiesel which is produced from the newly developed biodiesel production equipment. The lard oil was used as the raw material through various experimental conditions. Thirty one experiments were conducted, which were based on the experimental conditions that designed by central composite design method. The effects of four independent variables, including reaction temperature, reaction time, oil to methanol molar ratio, and catalytic amount, were investigated at five levels using central composite design (CCD). Fatty acid methyl ester content was chosen dependent variable. Although the results of analysis of the surface with an irregular surface geometry showed that the biodiesel was partially impure after the reaction due to the natural characteristics of the lard oil as the raw material, we could confirm the relationship between them from the facts that the production amount of fatty acid methyl ester changes according to reaction temperature, reaction time, oil to methanol molar ratio, and catalytic amount.