Effects of Parameters on Solvent Extraction of Oil From Sandbox (Hura Crepitans) Seed Oil Using 2^4 Factorial Design

The present work deals with the production of biodiesel from Sandbox (Hura crepitans) seed oil and the optimization of the parameters that influence the transesterification of Sandbox (Hura crepitans)seed oil into biodiesel using Response Surface Methodology. Hura crepitans oil was obtained from by using hydraulic press for Mechanical and n-hexane for solvent extraction. Esterification was done using methanol and sodium hydroxide. A total of 48 experiments using Central Composite Design were carried out. The R-Squared, Adequate Precision, Predicted and Adjusted R-Squared values were 0.9367, 19.219, 0.8576 and 0.9070 respectively. The result of the extraction of oil, physiochemical properties, and optimization process shows that sandbox (Hura crepitans) seed oil has characteristics that are more favorable to biodiesel production. The optimal conditions for extraction of oil from sandbox seed oil were given as alcohol/ oil ratio of 5.0, catalyst amount of 20 g/ml, extraction temperature of 60 ºC, and extraction time of 45.01 minutes, with the predicted oil yield as 97.33% respectively which shows that the experimental values are in good agreement with predicted values.