Publication: Simulation study of biodiesel production via transesterification process from waste cooking oil
Date
2021-06-01
Authors
Mohamad, Nurul Hazirah
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Abstract
Biodiesel is an environmental-friendly and alternative liquid fuel that can be used to substitute conventional diesel. It can be produced by a variety of feed stocks such as animal fats, non-edible oils and by-product of the refining vegetable oils. Biodiesel becomes a spotlight as a renewable fuel that is non-toxic and is biodegradable. It is usually synthesised by the transesterification of vegetable oil or animal fat with short chain alcohol such as methanol or ethanol. Its high oxygen content makes it a better choice for diesel engines. Waste cooking oil is one of the feedstocks that can be converted into biodiesel. Therefore, in this simulation study, waste cooking oil has been used as the raw material that reacted with methanol. This study was done by using Matlab software to observe how the operating conditions affect on the yield, conversion and selectivity of biodiesel. It was found that the temperature of 60 ̊C exhibited the highest yield of methyl ester. Oil to alcohol ratio of 1:15 gives the highest yield at 59%and catalyst weight of 1.4 wt % leads to the maximum yield of biodiesel. The simulation results obtained reasonable with the literature results and within the range studied by the previous researchers.