Enhancement of Conversion Efficiency of Low Cost Biodiesel Produced from Various Sources

Abstract

Research has been conducted on the production of biodiesel from vegetable oil by the transesterification process. The vegetable oils used are sunflower oil, soyabean oil, palm oil and mustard oil. The experiments involved reacting the vegetable oil and methanol in a magnetic stirrer equipped with temperature controller. Here ,NaOH and KOH are used as the catalyst. The process conditions of the reaction, including the reaction time and reaction temperatures can be controlled independently. Reaction product are separated from the reactants and used as biodiesel fuel for diesel engine. Experimental results showed that the conversion of the triglycerides to methyl ester are affected by the process conditions. The transesterification processes with temperature of about 550C to 600C, methanol to the triglyceride ratio of about 1:4 times, and the catalyst of about 0.6 to 0.8 wt%, appear to be the acceptable process conditions for biodiesel process production. The existing process of biodiesel production has been slightly modified like heating both the components (alcohol-hydroxide solution and vegetable oil) to the same temperature before reacting and gradual addition of the mixture (alcohol-hydroxide solution) in heated oil, which has ensured lower glycerine production and elimination of intermediate compound in the product. Besides, a mixture of NaOH and KOH are found to yield better results than a single hydroxide.