Transesterification of Low FFA Waste Vegetable Oil using Homogeneous Base Catalyst for Biodiesel Production: Optimization, Kinetics and Product Stability

Abstract

The most common method of biodiesel production is base catalyzed transesterification where alkaline materials, such as potassium hydroxide, are used as a catalyst. This paper presents a study of factors affecting biodiesel production from low free fatty acids (FFA) content waste vegetable oil through base catalyzed transesterification as well as the optimum reaction conditions. The optimum conditions were found to be a time of 60 min, catalyst loading of 1% of oil mass, mixing speed of 400 rpm and temperature of 65 °C. It also introduces a kinetic study of this reaction to determine the best model to fit the experimental data. First order model was found to be the best one to fit the early reaction stages while the second order model was the best to describe reaction kinetics in later stages. The stability of produced biodiesel was studied through determination of acid value and viscosity of stored biodiesel along three months.

Comparative Technoeconomic Analysis of Using Waste and Virgin Cooking Oils for Biodiesel Production

“…In this production unit, biodiesel is being produced according to the optimal conditions that have been investigated earlier in an experimental study (Al-Sakkari et al, 2018b). The suggested process is carried out in an isothermal batch reactor at 65°C while using MeOH to oil molar ratio of 6 : 1 and KOH as a catalyst with the loading of 1 weight % of WVO with a reaction time of 1 h. The optimum agitation speed that was reached during the experimental study was ∼400 rpm; however, this value should be adjusted on scaling up to confirm the constant mass transfer rate.…”

Production of biodiesel from used cooking using linear regression analysis

“…Free Fatty Acids (FFA) are undesirable compounds in feedstock or final biodiesel yield because of its noxious effects on yield quantity and specifications. In addition, it enhances backward reactions [ [9,13,14]. The equation of measuring FFA% in feedstock is:…”