Production of Biodiesel from a Low-Grade Second- Generation Oil Using Heterogeneous Catalyst - Waste to Energy Conversion

In this study, an attempt is made to produce biodiesel from waste cooking oil (WCO) via a transesterification process. Furthermore, a heterogeneous catalyst is prepared from the waste orange peel (WOP) extract by calcination at 600 oC for 120 minutes. Using transesterification process the waste cooking oil biodiesel (WCOBD) was obtained and the maximum yield achieved was 91.1%. The significant fuel oil properties such as viscosity, density, flash point, fire point, calorific value, cloud, pour points were determined. The results show that neat waste cooking oil biodiesel (WCOBD) biodiesel and diesel-biodiesel blend (B20) fuel oil properties are in close agreement with the ASTM standards. A cost estimation was conducted for the preparation of waste cooking oil biodiesel. Therefore, the cost analysis of waste cooking oil biodiesel was low than the standard diesel fuel cost. Thus, the waste cooking oil biodiesel could be used as a fuel in the existing diesel engine, an option to replace the fossil fuels.