Waste Cooking Oil Conversion to the Biofuel

Biodiesel is a mono-alkyl ester of four generations (vegetable oils, animal fats, cellulose products, fossil fuels and microalgae). The high cost of supplying raw materials for biodiesel production is considered as the most important limiting factor in commercial production of biodiesel. Waste cooking oil is known as a cheap and available source for biodiesel production. In this study, transesterification double steps process, TDSP, was used to produce biodiesel from waste oil from the exterior of the Shiraz Girl’s Technical and Vocational University. The conventional two-stage esterification-transesterification procedure was compared with the TDSP process. Specifications of biodiesel, such as flash point, 168°C, combustion point, 175°C, cloudiness point, 8°C, dropping point, 1°C, freezing point, -2°C , kinematic viscosity at 40°C, 5 mm2 /s and product density, 789 kg/m3,were evaluated and compared with ASTM standards. Due to the shorter reaction time and high quality of the final product in the TDSP method, this method was selected as an optimal biodiesel production method.