Volume 3, Issue 3 (2015) 490-497 ISSN 2347 - 3258 International Journal of Advance Research and Innovation 490 IJARI Application of Taguchi Experimental Design for the Optimization of Effective Parameters on the Neemoil Methyl Ester (Biodiesel) Production R. S. Mishra, Amit Pal, Anand Prakash Mall Department of Mechanical Engineering, Delhi Technological University, New Delhi, India Abstract ANOVA analysis showed that the temperature had the highest effect on the biodiesel yield followed by catalyst amount, methanol to oil molar ratio and reaction time. The result of this work using Taguchi Method showed that the maximum yields were obtained at lowest factor values. This will definitely have economic advantage on neem oil biodiesel production as low energy cost, low catalyst amount, low methanol/oil molar ratio, and low temperature are able to produce high biodiesel yield. 1. Introduction The use of alternative fuels instead of conventional fossil fuels is becoming increasingly significant due to decreasing petroleum reserves and increasing greenhouse gases, all of which lead to global warming, ozone depletion and political and health concerns (Fukuda et al., 2001). Plant oils have been used as alternative fuels for many years, since they are renewable and readily available. However, these oils cannot be used directly as fuel sources in diesel engines due to: (a) high viscosity which leads to poor fuel atomization during the injection process, (b) low volatility and (c) polymerization which results in deposit formation, incompletion combustion and poor emissions (Ma and Hanna, 1999; Meher et al., 2006). To overcome these disadvantages, oils can be converted into fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) which are also known as biodiesel. Biodiesel is an alternative fuel that is non-toxic, completely biodegradable and renewable and can be adapted easily without any modification to diesel engines. Several processes have been developed for biodiesel production, such as pyrolysis, micro emulsification and transesterification. The chemical change of the products from the reactants caused by the thermal energy in the presence of air or nitrogen sparging is called a pyrolytic process. These products are similar to the petroleum-derived fuel. However, during the pyrolysis process, the removal of oxygen leads to reduce the environmental benefits (Ma and Hanna, 1999). The problem of the high viscosity of the substrates has been investigated using microemulsions with solvents (methanol, ethanol and 1-butanol) to meet the international standards of petroleum-derived fuels. However, an increase of lubricating oil viscosity, irregular injector needle sticking, incomplete combustion and heavy carbon deposits were reported in the laboratory screening endurance test. Therefore, transesterification process plays a vital role, in order to overcome these disadvantages. Corresponding Author, E-mail address: anandwrites@gmail.com All rights reserved: http://www.ijari.org The process of displacing alcohol from an ester to form another ester is called transesterification. Transesterification is the most simple and efficient method to produce biodiesel by using acids, alkalis, or enzymes as catalysts. Triglycerides with high free fatty acid and water contents are not essential for a biodiesel conversion process using an acid catalyst. However, the reaction rates are slower than those of the alkali catalytic process (Freedman et al., 1986). The alkali-catalysis transesterification process has been widely used in the biodiesel industry, because it gives a high yield of conversion of fatty acid methyl esters from triglycerides at low temperatures and pressures in a relatively short reaction time of 4-10 hours. However, it has several drawbacks including product separation, soap formation and negative environmental impacts such as greenhouse gas, CO, hydrocarbons, NOx and particles in exhaust emissions (Nielsen et al., 2008). Neem is a tree in the family „maliaceae‟ which grows various parts in Bangladesh. It‟s scientific name „Azadirachtaindica‟. The evergreen tree is large, reaching 12 to 18 meters in height with a girth of up to 1.8 to 2.4 meters. The seeds have 40% oil which has high potential for the production of biodiesel. It has a higher molecular weight, viscosity, density, and flash point than diesel fuel. Neem oil is generally light to dark brown, bitter and has a strong odor that is said to combine the odors of peanut and garlic [M.A. Fazal et al., 2011]. Neem comprises mainly of triglycerides and large amounts of triterpenoid compounds. It contains four significant saturated fatty acids, of which two are palmitic acid and two are stearic acid. It also contains polyunsaturated fatty acids such as oleic acid and linoleic acids [Muthu et al., 2010] 2. Taguchi Method to Optimize the Process Parameters: Taguchi method is based on performing evaluation or experiments to test the sensitivity of a set of response Article Info Article history: Received 07 July 2015 Received in revised form 20 July 2015 Accepted 28 August 2015 Available online 15 September 2015 Keywords Optimization, Taguchi Method, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) Method, Neem Oil Methyl Ester (Biodiesel)