Abstract
Biodiesel is an environmentally friendly and sustainable fuel. However, the high price of the biodiesel produced from pure vegetable oil contributes to making it uncompetitive in the market. If we can make low cost oils such as waste cooking oil and high-acid-value oil available as resources, the cost of biodiesel production will be reduced significantly. However, these low cost oils cannot be used to produce biodiesel directly because they usually contain a large amount of free fatty acids. They have to undergo a preparatory procedure to lower the acid value to a specific value. The purpose of this study was to lower the amount of free fatty acids in waste cooking oils by blending high- and low-value oils at different ratios and to reduce the transesterification reaction time using a high speed homogenizer, which has the potential to easily enlarge the capacity scale. We used a high-acid-value oil to low-acid-value oil volume ratio of 4:6 as a control. A high conversion rate (97.1%) was achieved under the optimal reaction conditions: methanol-to-oil molar ratio, 9:1; amount of catalyst (CH3ONa) used, 0.75 wt %; reaction temperature, 65 °C; rotation speed, 8000 rpm; and reaction time, 8 min.
Highlights
The increasing demand for energy and the awareness of dangerous environmental pollution have existed since the industrial revolution in the 1800s
The objective of this study was to promote a waste cooking oil transesterification reaction by using a homogenizer with sodium methoxide catalyst to enhance the efficiency of biodiesel production
Van Gerpen [38] treated feedstock with H2 SO4 to reduce the level of free fatty acids to below 1 wt %, followed by a transesterification reaction catalyzed by homogeneous base KOH
Summary
The increasing demand for energy and the awareness of dangerous environmental pollution have existed since the industrial revolution in the 1800s. Scientists are continuously seeking alternative sources of renewable energy [1]. Biodiesel can be produced from animal fats or vegetable oils with methanol or ethanol as the catalyst via a transesterification reaction. Biodiesel can be defined as a monoalkyl ester of long chain fatty acids [2] derived from a renewable lipid source. It is a new alternative to fossil fuels. Compared to the transportation of oil from fossil fuels, biodiesel’s delivery is much safer and less volatile. It can directly replace diesel oil for any mechanical equipment and can be restored in any storage facility designed for oil. Biodiesel oil has unique advantages, including renewability and biodegradability and the fact that it is eco-friendly [3]
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