Production of Biodiesel from Locally Available Spent Vegetable Oils

Abstract

The depletion of fossil fuels prompted considerable research to find alternative fuels. Due its environmental benefits and renewable nature the production of biodiesel has acquired increasing importance with a view to optimizing the production procedure and the sources of feedstock. Millions of liters of waste frying oil are produced from local restaurants and houses every year, most are discarded into sewage systems causing damage to the networks. This study is intended to consider aspects related to the feasibility of the production of biodiesel from waste frying oils which will solve the problem of waste frying oil pollution and reduce the cost of biodiesel production.This research studies the conversion of locally available spent vegetable oils of different origins and with different chemical compositions into an environmentally friendly fuel. The biodiesel production requirements by base catalyzed trans-esterification process for the different feed stocks are determined according to the measured physical properties. The quality of the produced biodiesel is compared to petro diesel in terms of established standard specifications.

Keywords

• biodiesel, transesterification, waste vegetable oil