Production of fatty acid methyl ester biofuel from low value waste vegetable oil using acid catalyst
Abstract
Production of Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME) from low value waste vegetable oil
using acid catalyst is further described in this work. The raw materials used in this
study, which is the waste cooking oil (WCO) is collected and is used for the feedstock
of producing FAME by acid-catalyzed transesterification. The effect of oil to alcohol
molar ratio and the effect of amount of catalyst on the production of FAME is
discussed in details. Alcohol used in this work is methanol while sulphuric acid is
used as the catalyst. By varying three different molar ratio (1:6, 1:9 and 1:12) and
three different amount of catalyst (1 wt %, 2 wt % and 4 wt %), the yield and
conversion of FAME is studied. Acid-catalyzed transesterification is performed for 10
hours at 60 ⁰C. WCO is first filtered and analysed for its physical characteristics
before proceeding with transesterification reaction. FAMEs produced from the
reactions are then analysed for its physical characteristics and Gas Chromatography is
used to analyse its contents. Acid-catalyzed transesterification using 1:12 molar ratio
with 4 wt % of catalyst produced the most FAME yield and conversion. Using the
parameter, techno economic analysis is done by perfoming simulation using SuperPro
Designer 7.0. The biodiesel production unit cost obtained is RM1.93/kg.