Simulation Study Of Biodiesel Production Via Transesterification Process From Waste Cooking Oil
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Date
2021-06-01
Authors
Mohamad, Nurul Hazirah
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Universiti Sains Malaysia
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.