Application of Sinusoidal Function and a 25–1 Fractional Factorial Array in the Kinetics and Optimization Study of Gmelina Seed Oil Modified Alkyd Resin Synthesis

An overnight dry hard alkyd resin has been designed from non-drying gmelina seed oil (GSO). The study was enhanced through pseudo combined array (PCA) and a dynamic data processor (DDP). The GSO modified alkyd resin was synthesized through a two stage alcoholysis-esterification method using glycerol, phthalic and maleic anhydride. The DDP was designed for the conversion of the GSO acid functional group in the alkyd reactor on the basis of the third order kinetic model and sinusoidal function. Models describing the molecular properties (conversion, viscosity and molecular weight average) in terms of the process parameters were derived from multiple regression by integrating a 25–1 fractional factorial array (FFA) in a central composite design (CCD) implemented with design expert. The fatty acid profile of the raw GSO was determined using GC-MS while structural elucidation of the raw GSO, chemically modified GSO and GSO based alkyd resins were determined using FTIR spectrometry. The synthesized alkyds show very good physic-chemico-mechanical properties. Specifically, the drying schedule shows that the GSO alkyd resin achieved a dry hard time of 8.3 h in presence of nano-ZnO pigment. The designed kinetic model was able to track the trajectory of the reaction motion such that the molecular properties falls within specification. The Optimum responses of 89.66 % conversion, viscosity of 293 cP and molecular weight average of 5,481 predicted, fall within the range suggested from the kinetic model. Correspondent experiments conducted with the predicted optimum conditions were in reasonable agreement with the predicted values.