Maximization of Biodiesel production from oil that produced during salmon smoking process with high amount of omega-3 by using homogenous catalyst

The escalating global demand for oil, coupled with declining fossil fuel production, prompts the urgent exploration of renewable alternatives. To address this challenge, researchers are actively seeking environmentally friendly fuels like biodiesel. Among potential feedstocks, oil that is produced from salmon smoking process during industry emerges as a promising option. Smoked salmon oil could be a challenge when producing biodiesel due to its high content of omega-3 compounds. Using homogenous commercial catalyst from alkali to achieve the highest yield from salmon smoking oil was the aim of the current study. A Box–Behnken design and response surface methodology in Design Expert software (version 13) was used to study the effect of four main factors on the biodiesel yield from salmon smoking oil. The optimum biodiesel values were 70°C, 90 min, 0.753 wt.%, and 20 wt.% for temperature, reaction time, sodium hydroxide concentration, and methanol concentration, respectively. At these optimum values, the highest biodiesel production was 92.0% with fatty acid methyl ester contents of 83.4% and conversion efficiency of 77%. Thin-layer chromatography and thermal gravimetric analysis confirmed the successful production of biodiesel at optimized conditions. Using Aspen Plus simulation software confirmed the cost-effectiveness of the homogenous catalyst used for enhancing biodiesel production from salmon smoking oil.