Advancing Open Science for more than 25 years

Abstract: The lack of conventional fossil fuels and the increase of the polluting emissions generated
by combustion have increased the necessity for alternative fuels, such as biodiesel. Huge efforts have been
carried out in recent years in order to develop an alternative fuel from renewable resources. Biodiesel production
has received considerable attention in the recent past as a biodegradable and nonpolluting fuel. The production
of biodiesel by the transesterification process employing alkali catalyst has been industrially accepted for its
high conversion and reaction rates. The use of cooking oil as raw material is a very interesting alternative for the
production of biodiesel. Further, to reduce production cost, in the present research, restaurant waste vegetable
oil was used as the feedstock. The effects of methanol as solvent to oil molar ratio and reaction time and
temperature on the production of biodiesel were investigated. The results indicated that methanol as solvent,
3:1 methanol: oil molar ratio was found to be optimum at 60°C and 400 rpm. Under these optimal conditions, the
conversion of free fatty acids to fatty acid methyl esters was found to be 89%. The crucial biodiesel properties
of waste vegetable oil are within the American standard test method specifications.