Production of Biodiesel by Transesterification Reaction of Waste Cooking Oil
Donald Raoul Tchuifon Tchuifon
Department of Process Engineering, National Higher Polytechnic School of Douala, University of Douala, P.O. Box 2701, Douala, Cameroon and Research Unit of Noxious Chemistry and Environmental Engineering (RUNOCHEE), Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Dschang, P.O. Box 67, Dschang, Cameroon.
Serges Bruno Lemoupi Ngomade
Research Unit of Noxious Chemistry and Environmental Engineering (RUNOCHEE), Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Dschang, P.O. Box 67, Dschang, Cameroon.
George Nche Ndifor-Angwafor
Research Unit of Noxious Chemistry and Environmental Engineering (RUNOCHEE), Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Dschang, P.O. Box 67, Dschang, Cameroon.
Paul Alain Nanssou Kouteu
Department of Process Engineering, National Higher Polytechnic School of Douala, University of Douala, P.O. Box 2701, Douala, Cameroon.
Tchoumboue Nsah-Ko
College of Technology, University of Buea, P.O. Box 63, Buea, Cameroon.
Richard Daris Tagaboue Nguedap
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Douala, P.O. Box 2701, Douala, Cameroon.
Idris-Hermann Tiotsop Kuete
Research Unit of Noxious Chemistry and Environmental Engineering (RUNOCHEE), Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Dschang, P.O. Box 67, Dschang, Cameroon.
Aurelien Bopda
Research Unit of Noxious Chemistry and Environmental Engineering (RUNOCHEE), Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Dschang, P.O. Box 67, Dschang, Cameroon.
Solomon Gabche Anagho *
Research Unit of Noxious Chemistry and Environmental Engineering (RUNOCHEE), Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Dschang, P.O. Box 67, Dschang, Cameroon.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Waste cooking oils are an agro-food waste with adverse effects on the health of living organisms and the environment. The main objective of this work is to valorize waste cooking oil for the synthesis and physicochemical characterization of biodiesel. The method used is based on the transesterification reaction of the oils using methanol and a basic homogeneous catalyst. In this study we employ waste from refined palm oil used for frying doughnuts. After optimization a reaction time of 2 hours, KOH catalyst, and a molar ratio of 9:1 were selected to obtain a good quality biodiesel. Physicochemical characterization was performed on the biodiesel to obtain its density, viscosity, calorific value, acid number, saponification index and IR spectral features. The analysis shows that the biodiesel obtained after transesterification has physicochemical characteristics similar to those of diesel and is consistent with American standards.
Keywords: Biodiesel, viscosity, transesterification, basic catalysts, waste cooking oil