Simplex lattice mixture design application for biodiesel production: Formulation and characterization of hybrid oil as feedstock

•Mixture of five vegetable oils as potential feedstock for biodiesel production.•Optimal hybridization by developing research simplex lattice mixture design models.•GC–MS analysis of hybrid oil was also done.•Biodiesel with good fuel properties was produced by optimal mixture of above oils. Simplex lattice design has been implemented for hybridization, processing and optimization, to have a relevant blend of oils for biodiesel synthesis. The study was done to check the impacts of starting oil amount on kinematic viscosity, density, cetane number and higher calorific value of hybrid oil in view of it use as biodiesel feedstock. Models significance is statistically assessed by analysis of variance. Based on superposition approach of the potential results, numerical optimization was done followed by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (GC–MS) for identification of compound. With desirability factor 0.790, the optimized formulation has high similarities among actual and predicted responses. Optimal composition suggested for the hybrid oil was 49.82 g WKO, 24.67 g NMO and 50.51 g SHB. GC–MS analysis result showed that hybrid feedstock contains 35.45% oleic acid, 28.13% linoleic acid and 18.24% palmitic acid. The determined fuel properties fitted well with the ASTM D6751 and EN 14214 specifications for biodiesel.