A computational model for analysis of biodiesel production, derived from cooking oil, and use in collection of garbage

Abstract

This paper proposes a computer model to reuse cooking oil, collected from restaurants of a public university, as a raw material to generate biodiesel. Both the environmental and economic impacts were analyzed when this biofuel was used in trash trucks in cities in the central region of Rio Grande do Sul state, in Brazil. The model was developed based on System Dynamics and it was implemented using Vensin software. Employing a 10-year scenario analysis, it proved possible to reduce water pollution and CO2 emissions, as well as save costs, when using biodiesel instead of buying mineral diesel. We concluded that generating biodiesel to use as fuel for trash trucks could be a way to reuse cooking oil, preventing air and water pollution, as well as saving costs.

Keywords

• Biodiesel
• Computational modeling
• Sustainability