Improving Biodiesel Conversions from Blends of High- and Low-Acid-Value Waste Cooking Oils Using Sodium Methoxide as a Catalyst Based on a High Speed Homogenizer

Ming-Chien Hsiao, Jui-Yang Kuo, Pei-Hsuan Hsieh and Shuhn-Shyurng Hou
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Ming-Chien Hsiao: Department of Environmental Engineering, Kun Shan University, Tainan 71070, Taiwan
Jui-Yang Kuo: Department of Environmental Engineering, Kun Shan University, Tainan 71070, Taiwan
Pei-Hsuan Hsieh: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan
Shuhn-Shyurng Hou: Green Energy Technology Research Center, Kun Shan University, Tainan 71070, Taiwan

Energies, 2018, vol. 11, issue 9, 1-11

Abstract: Biodiesel is an environmentally friendly and sustainable fuel. However, the high price of the biodiesel produced from pure vegetable oil contributes to making it uncompetitive in the market. If we can make low cost oils such as waste cooking oil and high-acid-value oil available as resources, the cost of biodiesel production will be reduced significantly. However, these low cost oils cannot be used to produce biodiesel directly because they usually contain a large amount of free fatty acids. They have to undergo a preparatory procedure to lower the acid value to a specific value. The purpose of this study was to lower the amount of free fatty acids in waste cooking oils by blending high- and low-value oils at different ratios and to reduce the transesterification reaction time using a high speed homogenizer, which has the potential to easily enlarge the capacity scale. We used a high-acid-value oil to low-acid-value oil volume ratio of 4:6 as a control. A high conversion rate (97.1%) was achieved under the optimal reaction conditions: methanol-to-oil molar ratio, 9:1; amount of catalyst (CH 3 ONa) used, 0.75 wt %; reaction temperature, 65 °C; rotation speed, 8000 rpm; and reaction time, 8 min.

Keywords: biodiesel; transesterification; waste cooking oil; homogenizer; sodium methoxide (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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