APPLICATION OF THE MULTIRESPONSE OPTIMISATION SIMPLEX METHOD TO THE BIODIESEL - B100 OBTAINING PROCESS

The process of obtaining B100 biodiesel from vegetable oil and animal fat mixtures by transesterification under basic conditions was optimised using the super-modified simplex method. For simultaneous optimisation, yield, cost, oxidative stability and Cold Filter Plugging Point (CFPP), were used as responses, and the limits were established according to the experimental data and the conformity parameters established by legislations. Based on the predictive equations obtained from the simplex-centroid design-coupled functions, the multi-response optimisation showed an optimal formulation containing 38.34 % soybean oil, 21.90 % beef tallow and 39.25 % poultry fat. The validation showed that there are no significant differences between the predicted and experimental values. The simplex-centroid mixture design and simplex optimisation methods were effective tools in obtaining biodiesel B100, using a mixture of different raw materials.</p