Abstract
This study focused on enhancing the efficiency of biodiesel production from palm kernel oil (PKO)
using a catalyst derived from a mixture of pig bone and cocoa pod doped with iron chloride and
nickel nitrate. The catalyst was characterized using Brunauer-Emmett and Teller (BET), fourier
transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscope and energy dispersive Xray
(SEM-EDX), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The impact of four variable input parameters (reaction temperature, time, catalyst, and oil to methanol ratio) on the biodiesel yield was analyzed using the Box Behken design (BBD) of Design Expert. From the obtained characterization result, the composition percentages of 41.426% calcium oxide, 15.265% phosphorus oxide, and 13.689% iron oxide were revealed. An optimal biodiesel yield of 92.4% was achieved at a temperature of 64.39℃, reaction time of 60.02 minutes with a
methanol/oil ratio of 18:1 and catalyst loading of 5 wt%. The RSM model exhibited high effectiveness with R2 value of 0.9754. Also, the biodiesel produced met established standards after analysis.