The objective of the study was to determine the effect of high-powered ultrasonics on enhancing biodiesel production from soybean oil. In this study, soybean oil was mixed with methanol and sodium hydroxide and was sonicated at 3 amplitude levels of the ultrasonic (60µm pp , 120µm pp and 180µm pp ) in a pulse mode (5 seconds on/25 seconds off). The results were compared to a control group where the same reactant composition was allowed to react at 60ºC for intervals ranging from 5 minutes to 1 hour with no ultrasonic treatment. It was observed that ultrasonic treatment resulted in a 96% yield (percent conversion to biodiesel) in less than approximately 90 s; compared to 5 to 10 minutes for the control sample. The highest yield was obtained from sonicating the mixture at 120µm pp amplitude.
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This is an ASABE Meeting Presentation, Paper No. 084374.