A Stage-ɪ

Project Report on

“PRODUCTION AND ANALYSIS OF

BIODIESEL FROM WASTE COOKING
OIL”

By
Harshad Paikrao[B1900800878] [BEMEB24257]
Abhijeet Patil [B1900800879] [BEMEB24260]
Dipak Giri [B1900800840] [BEMEB24266]
Dhanashree Joshi [B1900800849] [BEMEB24271]
Guide
Prof. S. C. Wangdare

Department of Mechanical Engineering

D. Y. Patil College of Engineering,
Akurdi, Pune-411 044
[2024-2025]

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D. Y. PATIL COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, AKURDI,
PUNE - 411044

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Mr. Harshad Paikrao have successfully completed

project Stage-I entitled “PRODUCTION AND ANALYSIS OF
BIODIESEL FROM WASTE COOKING OIL” under my supervision, in
the partial fulfilment of Bachelor of Engineering – Mechanical Engineering of
Savitribai Phule Pune University.
Date:
Place:

Prof. S. C. Wangdare Dr. Shyamsing V. Thakur

Guide Internal Examiner

Dr. P T Nitnaware Dr. Mrs. P. Malathi

Head of the Department Principal

External Examiner

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Firstly, we would like to thank our guide Prof. S. C._Wangdare Sir for guiding us
and showing us a way to proceed with the dissertation effectively.

We thank Dr. P T Nitnaware Sir, HOD-Mechanical Engineering for encouraging us to

do things with integrity and have a research-based approach.

We would like to thank other faculties for their guidance and sharing their
knowledge, institution. Last but not least, we would like to thank our friends who
helped us make our work more organized and well-stacked.

Mr. Harshad Paikrao (72226485C)

Mr. Abhijeet Patil (72226486M)
Mr. Dipak Giri ( )
Ms. Joshi Dhanashree (72226478L )

D. Y. Patil College of Engineering, Akurdi, B.E. (Mechanical)

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 Table of Contents

ABSTRACT 7
Chapter 1 8
1. Introduction 8
1.1 Problem Statement 12
1.2 Objectives 12
1.3 Scope of Study 12
1.4 Methodology 16

Chapter 2 19
2. Literature Review 19
2.1 Various Types of research studies by different authors 19
2.2 Concluding Remarks 19
Chapter 3 40
CONCLUSION 40
REFERENCES 41

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 ABSTRACT
As the harmful results of the conventional fuels to the environment as well as the
increasing hike in crude oil’s price create awareness, there has been a requirement for an
environment friendly alternate source of energy that has become vital in recent times.
biodiesel is found to be the best alternative for diesel due to its some unique properties
like significant reduction in green-house gas emission, non-sulfur emissions, non-
particulate matter pollutants, low toxicity and biodegradability.
Our project reviews pretreatment step, the physical and chemical properties of waste
cooking oil, esterification, transesterification and production of biodiesel from waste
cooking oil by various methods and catalyst.
The factors affecting the process parameters reported are studied and the
point of interest focuses on their alcohol to oil ratio, reaction temperature, catalyst both
qualitative and quantitative scope.
The main purpose of this project work is to enhance the production of biodiesel from
waste cooking oil using CaO and optimizing the major transesterification reaction
parameters

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 Chapter 1

1. Introduction

21st century has been facing many problems like energy sustainability, environmental problems
and rising fuel prices. Conventional fuels are known for polluting air by emissions of sulfur
dioxides, carbondioxides, particulate matter and other gases. This has resulted to increased
research in alternate fuels and renewable source of energy Moreover, energy consumption of the
world is ever increasing, this has caused the fuel resources dwindle. The transport sector
worldwide has considerably increased the fuel consumption reaching 61.5% of the total,
especially in the last decade.Recent research expects that the amount of petrol in the world can
be used merely for next 46 years. Hence, interest in research for an effective substitute for
petroleum diesel is increasing Currently, India produces only 30% of the total petroleum fuels
required for its consumption and the remaining 70% is imported, which costs about Rs. 80,0000
million per year. It is evident that mixing of 5% of biodiesel fuel to the present diesel
fuel can save Rs.40, 000 million per year
Over last few years, Biodiesel (fatty acid methyl esters) has become the part of the equation in
the 1990’s as the effects of global warming began to get political acknowledgement, because of
its benefits over petroleum diesel like significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, non-
sulfur emissions and non-particulate matter pollutants, low toxicity, biodegradable and is
obtained from renewable source like vegetable oils, animal fat etc

.Biodiesel is superior to fossil diesel fuel in terms of exhaust emissions, cetane number, flash
point and lubricity characteristics, without any significant difference in heat of combustion of
these fuels Moreover, biodiesel returns about 90% more energy than the energy that is utilized
to produce it . Biodiesel mixed with conventional diesel in some proportions can be used to run
any existing conventional compression ignition engine and does not require any modifications to
be done to the engine .Due to benefits like renewable in nature, low cost and green house gas
reduction potential, biodiesel is nowadays incorporated all over the world especially in
developed countries like USA, France, Brazil in different proportions with diesel. It is also
estimated that India can supplement 41.14% of its total diesel fuel consumption, if resources like
waste cooking oil and other bio wastes were used as raw material for biodiesel production

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Biodiesel can be processed from different mechanisms. Some of them are
1. Direct use or blending in diesel fuel,
2. Micro emulsions in diesel fuel
3. Thermal cracking of vegetable oils and
4. Transesterification
In our case, transesterification is focused.
Transesterification is the most common process in this process an ester compound is exchanged
by an alcohol in the alkyl group. Biodiesel can be defined as fatty acid methyl esters (FAME)
derived from the Transesterification of triglycerides (vegetable oils or animal fats) with alcohol
and suitable catalyst, Biodiesel is used as mix constituent of petroleum diesel in proportions for
running a diesel engine, since using neat biodiesel has some engine issues
Production rate, yield, product quality were the key performance indicators assessed. Biodiesel
can be produced from different triglyceride sources such as vegetable oils (that can be edible,
non-edible or waste oils), animal fats (mostly edible fats or waste fats) and microalgae oil The
crops identified for biodiesel are corn, sunflower, palm, olive, canola, soybean, rape and
peanuts oils, and animal-based lipid .
Waste animal fat is also is identified to be a good feedstock for biodiesel. Economic feasibility
of biodiesel depends on the availability of low-cost feed stocks ,The key issue for large scale
application of biodiesel as compared to petroleum diesel is the high cost of biodiesel which is
mainly concerned with cost of feedstock oils as both the edible and non-edible oils are limited .
Moreover, it has been reported that nearly 70-95 % of the total production cost is related to the
cost of raw materials. This issue can be overcome by the use of WASTE COOKING OIL
(WCO)as raw material which can effectively reduce the feedstock cost to 60-70% .Likewise, the
cost of catalyst also affects the overall production cost. Several studies have been made to use
waste materials for low cost catalyst preparation to develop sustainable biodiesel production
process

2. WASTE COOKING OIL

Waste cooking oil refers to the used vegetable oil obtained from cooking food. Repeated frying
for preparation of food makes the edible vegetable oil no longer suitable for consumption due to
high free fatty acid (FFA) content Waste oil has many disposal problems like water and soil

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pollution, human health concern and disturbance to the aquatic ecosystem , so rather than
disposing it and harming the environment, it can be used as an effective and cost efficient
feedstock for Biodiesel production as it is readily available Furthermore, Animal fats with high
acid value and fat-containing floating sludge discharged in water systems are subject to
environmental concern due to their high pollutant potential and it is a challenge for wastewater
treatment plants to purify it. Therefore, conversion of low quality lipid-rich sources from
slaughterhouses into commercial grade biodiesel is an opportune strategy for minimizing
environmental damages while it can help meeting the energetic challenge.
WCO collected can also be used to prepare soaps and additive for lubricating oil
.Many researchers have successfully converted used vegetable oil into biodiesel

Vegetable oil contains saturated hydrocarbons (triglycerides) which consist of glycerol and
esters of fatty acids Used vegetable oil (UVO) is a by-product from hotels, fast food restaurants
and shops selling fritter and by-product of an operating vegetable oil refinery For serving better
quality food, they usually throw this waste cooking without any treatment . In some places, UCO
from restaurants were re-used by street sellers to fry their food, this waste oil is termed as second
–used cooking oil can also be utilized by converting to biodiesel Distillate that is produced by
deodorization of palm oil (DDPO) is also a promising and cost effective feedstock .
Infact, using waste vegetable oil reduces the need for biodiesel-producing crops and the
competition with food UCOs have different properties from those of refined and crude vegetable
oils. The chemical and physical properties of WCO are different from those of fresh oil since
some changes due to chemical reactions - such as hydrolysis, oxidation, polymerization, and
material transfer between food and vegetable oil occur during the frying
process. The typical chemical and physical characteristics of WCO are shown in Table 1 .
The usual values for Properties like density, kinematic viscosity, saponification value, acid value
and Iodine value are shown in the table.

Property Units Value

Density g /cm3 0.91-0.924
Kinematic Viscosity mm2/s 36.4-42
Saponification Value mgKOH/g 188.2-207
Acid Value mgKOH/g 1.32-3.6
Iodine Number gI2/100g 83-141.5

Table – 1 Main properties of WCO

The properties of WCO can change depending on the frying conditions, such as temperature and
cooking time. Indeed a vegetable oil subjected to thermal stress such as during frying can
completely vary its chemical and physical original characteristics The cooking process causes
the vegetable oil, Triglyceride to break-down to form, Diglycerides, Monoglycerides, and free
fatty acids (FFAs) The amount of heat and water in the frying increases the hydrolysis of
triglycerides, therefore it causes a growth of the Free Fatty Acids (FFAs) in the WCO.
Moreover, because of oxidation and polymerization reactions, there is an increase in the
viscosity and the saponification number of the WCO when compared with the original oil
Furthermore the transport of matter and heat between the frying food and the vegetable oil

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occurs and causes a higher content of water in the WCO. During the transesterification reaction,
the presence of water in the WCO samples often lead to hydrolysis, whereas high
FFA content and high saponification number can lead to saponification reactions. Both
hydrolysis and saponification reactions cause low biodiesel yield and high catalyst consumption
The information on the physical–chemical properties of the many biodiesel sources available is a
key issue to decide on investments for the development of crop production, processing, quality
control, and engine adequacy.

3. TRANSESTERIFICATION OF WASTE COOKING OIL

In transesterifcation reaction, the triglyceride component of oil reacts with the alcohol in
the presence of NaOH or any other catalyst to give ester and glycerol

In general, there are three systems of transesterification with vegetable oil or an animal fat
as a starting material they are homogeneous, heterogeneous systems and enzymatic based
on the catalyst employed in the process UVO is reacted with alcohol, In most of the cases
methanol is used because of better efficiency
However ethanol and isopropyl alcohol can also be used, Ethanol is used for animal
fats .It has been reported that transesterification process depends upon several parameters
which are reaction temperature and pressure, reaction time, rate of agitation, type of
alcohol used and molar ratio of alcohol to oil, type and concentration of catalyst used and
concentration of moisture and FFA in the feed oil. The optimal values of these parameters
largely depend on the physical and chemical properties of the feedstock oil for attaining
higher conversion

The majority of biodiesel today is produced through homogeneous alkali-catalysed

transesterification of edible vegetable oils. Homogeneous catalysts are those which are

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soluble during the reaction, they may be liquid or gaseous. They are of two types : Acidic
and Alkaline. Acidic catalysts like H2SO4 are used
widely for Esterification while Alkaline catalysts like NaOH and KOH are used for
Transesterification. The advantages of homogenous catalysts are
(i) ability to catalyze reaction at lower reaction temperature and atmospheric
pressure;
(ii) high conversion can be achieved in less time,
(iii) availability and it is economical.
This process enables a good product quality and a relatively shorter reaction time The
effective use of Alkaline homogenous catalyst is limited only for refined vegetable oil
with less than 0.5 wt.% FFA or acid value less than 1 mg KOH/g. Moreover, the
separation of these catalysts after the reaction is completed, requires the washing of
biodiesel with water which might result in loss of Fatty acid alkyl esters, energy
consumption and generates large amount of waste water. This also increases the overall
biodiesel production cost as catalyst is difficult to recover and catalysts may cause
reactor corrosion .The triglyceride and alcohol should be an hydrous and a Low free fatty
acid (FFA) content of raw material is required to avoid the soap production( by alkaline
catalyst consumption) and low product yields

Heteregeneous catalysts are the solids and are insoluble during the reaction .Most of them
are Metal oxides like KBr/CaO From economic point of view, Heterogeneous (solid)
catalysts are preferred over homogenous as they can be reused allow a better separation and
better quality of the final products Solid base catalysts are considered to be promising
catalysts for transesterifiaction as they have advantages such as easy separation of catalyst
from reaction mixture, can tolerate high FFA, no washing is required, easy regeneration,
less corrosive character of the product, low in cost and it is a more environment friendly
approach

Changes in cooking oil after repeated frying cycles

For human health, it is crucial to provide nutritious meals with greater sensory qualities.
During the cooking process, heat is a critical factor. When food is cooked, boiled, fried, etc.,
it is heated to varying degrees. Different physical and chemical changes in food components
depend on the heat level. Since frying enhances food flavor, it has become a popular way to
prepare meals. Oil is heated during frying to a temperature of 160–190 °C under
atmospheric conditions. However, for economic reasons, the same cooking oil is frequently
used. In public restaurants, frying often takes place in the same oil for a few days; however,
in homes, the oil is changed after a few usages. But, depending on the kind of oil and oil
composition, using the same oil or fat for frying repeatedly will result in a variety of
physical as well as chemical changes in the oil. After frying, vegetable oil exhibits many
physical changes, like rise in viscosity, change in surface tension, increase in specific heat,

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change in color Moreover, during frying, oils go through three different types of reactions,
namely thermolytic, oxidative, and hydrolytic If the oil is utilized repeatedly, these three
reactions will continually result in the production of several undesirable and hazardous
chemicals. These chemical’s toxicological effects on human ingestion are yet not fully
understood. The number of polar com- pounds in the waste cooking oil, particularly the free
fatty acid (FFA), must be taken into account, as it will significantly influence the transes
terification process, if the waste cooking oil is to be used as a feedstock for the generation
of biodiesel. Ultimately, repeated heating causes the oil’s polar content to rise. After frying,
the polar content of the edible oil is typically used to assess its quality. Fresh, unused oil
typically has a polar content of 0.4 to 6.4 mg/100 g. The majority of European nations have
set a maximum polar content threshold for edible oils of 25%, meaning that when the polar
portion is more than 25%, oils should be rejected. According to a study on sunflower oil,
olive oil, and a combination of the three oils, after 20 frying, sunflower oil’s polar con- tent
increases by 640% and olive oil’s by 480%. All used oils had a polar component of greater
than 25% after 40 frying. Another study on sun- flower oil revealed that adding new oil
often while frying reduced the oxidative and hydrolytic modifications in the cooking oil,
even after 20 frying cycles. Refined oil typically has an FFA percentage of less than 0.5 wt.
%, but waste cooking oil has an FFA content that ranges from 0.5 to 15 wt.%

1. VARIOUS PARAMETERS AFFECTING THE PROCESS

1. Reaction temperature
The quantity of biodiesel produced during a transesterification pro- cess depends on
temperature since it is an endothermic reaction In general, the synthesis of biodiesel
will rise as the temperature of the reaction rises, which causes an oil’s viscosity value
to reduce. This is due to the oil’s high viscosity at low temperatures and the
inadequate mixing of the reactants due to the lack of a reaction temperature
However, raising the reaction temperature above the ideal temperature hinders the
production of biodiesel by causing the alcohol to evaporate. A reaction temperature
over the alcohol’s boiling point led the alcohol to evaporate, which decreased its
availability, decreases alcohol-oil con- tact time, and reduced the overall output of
biodiesel . According to studies by , 60 °C was the ideal temperature for WCO during
the transesterification process. According to study on WCO with high levels of free
fatty acids, 75 °C was the ideal temperature for WCO during the transesterification
process. According to study on WCO with low free fatty acid content, 65 °C was the
ideal temperature for WCO during the transesterification process.

2. Reaction time
In general, as the reaction time extends, the yield of biodiesel rises. On the other
hand, the feedstock, catalyst, and concentration all influence the optimal
transesterification reaction time. Base catalyst generated the most biodiesel at a rate
that was 4000 times quicker than acid catalyst. This is one of the causes for the

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 widespread use of acid catalyst as a pretreatment prior to the transesterification
process . Less re- action time will result in improper mixing and dispersion of the
alcohol and raw materials. The process starts with a very low yield of biodiesel. In
order to facilitate the synthesis of biodiesel, the feedstock has been modified
throughout time to the two primary triglycerides, monoglyceride and diglyceride.
With an adequate supply of mono and diglycerides, the manufacturing process got
going and eventually achieved equilibrium at the ideal reaction time . When the
reaction time was too lengthy, the reaction was compelled to maintain equilibrium.
After being hydrolyzed, the ester was saponified. In the end, these two circumstances
resulted in low biodiesel yields . According to re- search from 60 min. was the ideal
reaction time for the transesterification of used cooking oil. According to studies with
high free fatty acid levels in WCO conducted by , 5 hr. of reaction time was the ideal
amount of time for the transesterification process of used cooking oil. The ideal
reaction time for the transesterification reaction for biodiesel production of waste
cooking oil having low FFA content was 4 hr. determined by study carried out by

3. Effect of alcohol to oil ratio

One of the most crucial transesterification factors is the molar ratio of alcohol to oil.
Biodiesel may be made from a variety of alcohols, including methanol, ethanol, propanol,
pentanol, isopropyl alcohol, and butanol According to research, because its commercial
relevance is less than that of other longer chain alcohols, methanol is frequently preferred
for the production of biodiesel. This makes it a less expensive option for trans esterifying
biodiesel. In methanol, there is no azeotropethat also contains water. As a result, recycling it
for the production of biodiesel is simple The catalyst type affects the oil to methanol ratio
during transesterification. As compared to base catalyst, acid cat- alyst requires a higher oil
to methanol ratio. The oil to methanol ratio of 1:6 is generally preferable for base catalyzed
transesterification, but a 1:15 oil to methanol ratio is needed for acid catalyzed transesterifi-
cation Poor bio-diesel yield was the result of either insufficient or excessive methanol. The
reaction won’t progress to production process if the oil to methanol ratio is too low. The
transesterification process will turn against the reactants rather than producing biodiesel.
This is as a result of reversible nature of transesterification reaction. The ideal molar ratio of
methanol to oil for the transesterification process to produce biodiesel from WCO was 1:6
The molar ratio of ethanol to oil for producing biodiesel from WCO having high FFA
content via the transesterification process was 10:1 as experimented by The molar ratio of
methanol to oil for the transesterification process to produce biodiesel from WCO having
low FFA content is 15:1 as experimented

4. Type of alcohol
Three moles of alcohol are required for the transesterification of one mole of
feedstock oil. Methanol & Ethanol are the most commonly used alcohol during
transesterification reaction, due to their low price. If methanol is used, biodiesel

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product obtained will be fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) & if ethanol is used,
biodiesel product will be fatty acid ethyl ester (FAEE). Moreover, FAME has higher
maximum engine performance in comparison to FAEE. Methanol is cheap & more
reactive as compared to ethanol. FAME produced by this is more volatile than FAEE.
Moreover, FAEE is more viscous than FAME. Methanol is the most efficient alcohol
for transesterification reaction. Biodiesel production using Methanol has more cost
benefits over other alcohols, as this is very cheap alcohol and can be used for
commercial production. But the amount of methanol used should be optimum . If less
quantity of methanol is used, rate of reaction will be slow, but if more quantity of
methanol is used, it will lead to difficult separation of byproduct

5. Catalyst concentration
The concentration of the catalyst also has an impact on the pro- duction of
biodiesel. The composition of the biodiesel feedstock and the technology used for
transesterification often determine the kind and quantity of catalyst used in the
process. When concentration of catalyst is increased, the biodiesel yield also
increases. This is because adding additional catalyst to the transesterification
process results in the pres- ence of more active sites. However, due to the expense
of the catalyst itself, using more catalyst may not be advantageous economically.
To find the ideal quantity of catalyst needed in the transesterification pro- cess,
optimization is therefore essential, similar to determining the ratio of oil to
alcohol

6. Agitation speed
Because oils and alcohols are not completely miscible, transesterification reaction
can only take place at the liquid-liquid interface and is a moderately slow process.
Therefore, mixing is crucial to the transesterification process. Hence, sufficient
mixing between these two forms of feedstock is required to encourage interaction
between them and thereby improve the chances of transesterification processes. A
popular method used in transesterification reaction is mechanical mixing. De-
pending on the requirement of the mixing for the transesterification pro- cess, the
intensity of the mixing might be changed. In order to achieve thorough and equal
mixing of the feedstock, the blending intensity must generally be raised.
Exclusive mechanical mixing is needed when the feedstock’s viscosity is very
high to overcome the unfavorable impact of viscosity on the mass transfer
between oil and alcohol . Speed of agitation is crucial for the production of the
biodiesel as agitation of the oil and catalyst mixture speeds up the reaction. For
instance, while other parameters were held constant, the mixing intensities used at
200 rpm, 400 rpm, 600 rpm, and 800 rpm for 60 min. A greater conversion of the
finished product was attained at 400 rpm. lower stirring speed indicates reduced
product production, for this reasearch

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 7. Free fatty acid & moisture content
The two main factors that determine whether or not vegetable oils are suitable for
use in the transesterification process are the free fatty acid content and moisture
level. The FFA content of the oil rises when moisture is present. Less than 3% of
the free fatty acid concentration in oils is required to complete this reaction. For
the synthesis of biodiesel, base-catalyzed transesterification process requires
water free and low acid value ( < 1) feedstock. The reaction needs extra alkali
catalyst to neutralize the FFA if the oil samples have a high FFA level (greater
than 1%). Since water can result in soap production and foaming, which can
increase viscosity, its presence has a more detrimental impact than FFAs do. The
removal of glycerol from biodiesel is further complicated by the development of
gels and foams. Free fatty acids and water almost al- ways create undesirable
results during transesterification, resulting in the creation of soap and the
consumption of the catalyst, which reduces the catalyst’s effectiveness. They also
cause the methyl ester to be de- creased

2. BIODIESEL PRODUCTION PROCESS

Biodiesel production can be done both in batch scale and in continuous scale. Since, the
batch scale process is simple, inexpensive and required less skilled workers, Most of the
Industries prefer Batch scale production. There are many methods in which
Transesterification can be carried out. Among them the lab scale batch reactor is most
commonly used

Pretreatment of WCO
Before proceeding for the reaction, Pre- heating of oil is done at 500C and 1 atm Pressure
and incase of used oil a titration is done to determine the amount of catalyst required for the
reaction as well as the amount of catalyst required to neutralize the FFAs. Now the oil is
filtered to remove any chunks of food particles passing the oil through a cotton cloth. The
preheating depends on the type of oil used for the reaction whether fresh or used

2.1. Lab scale Batch reactor method

These reactors mostly employ round bottom flask with 3 necks or 2 necks with a magnetic
stirrer and a reflux condenser. This type of reactor is used in laboratories for the preparation
of biodiesel.Figure shows the Three necked round bottom flask which is connected with
condenser thermometer and Erlenmeyer

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After the titration that determines the amount of catalyst required for the reaction, the
catalyst is mixed with alcohol, this is mixed with oil in the reactor and continuously stirred.
Once the reaction is completed, the product formed is of two layers which was separated by
separating funnel. The upper layer is Biodiesel and lower layer is catalyst The water present
in the product can be removed by reacting with Na2SO4 .In most of the cases the
reaction temperature maintained is between 55 - 650c using methanol as alcohol

It was reported in a study that 80 % yield of Biodiesel can be obtained from WCO with
methanol to oil ratio of6:1, NaOH 1%wt/wt as catalyst , and 60 ± 1 °C temperature for 1 - 3
hours by continuously stirring at 300 rpm.in a lab scale batch reactor
A reaction temperature of 300C is used for ethanolysis of animal fat

Another investigation used WFO from fritter selling shops as a raw material and obtained a
yield of 94% using methanol to oil ratio 15:1, NaOH (0.5-1 % wt/wt) at 550C for 1-1.5
hours . It was also concluded that lower amount of catalyst can lead to unreacted product
and higher amount results in the soap formation. The final product yield is strongly
dependent on the component free fatty acids present in the feed

2.2. Pilot Scale Reactor method

A pilot scale plant is used to process around 100 liters of biodiesel. In an investigation [8], a
pilot scale plant was used for the production of biodiesel and the parameters affecting the
reaction were studied namely reaction temperature, type and quantity of alcohol used,

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 agitation rate, catalyst type, and original oil characteristics. An optimization process was
carried out to obtain a yield of 94.3% biodiesel with density of 0.875 g/cm3 using UVO
with 3% FFA with methanol to oil molar ratio of 6:1 and catalyst NaOH with concentration
of 0.5% w/woil
fig shows the layout and photograph of pilot plant. As shown in scheme-4, a pilot plant is
composed of stainless steel reactor jacketed of 100 liters capacity R1. WCO is filtered
through filter F1before it is loaded to the reactor, this process is an automatic process.
Catalyst and reagent are placed into two tanks, D1 and D2, and are automatically moved to
the reactor depending on the volume and the FFA percentage. The produced
biodiesel is passed through an ionic resin filter F2 in order to remove residues of waste
material and wastes resulting from the reaction are removed from the bottom of the reactor.
All parameters are monitored by a computerized
system with a touch screen interface.

 Comparison of Biodiesel, diesel and Gasoline.

Biodiesel made from natural and renewable resources has been proven to be a superior
alternative to present diesel, particularlyfor transportation. Table 6 shows the comparison of
biodiesel, diesel and gasoline properties based on the ASTM standard. Biodiesel have a
better advantage compared to diesel and gasoline. In term of emission when comparing
biodiesel and others, the majority of studies have reported significant decreases in exhaust
emissions. The existence of sufficient oxygen in biodiesel is one of the more widely
acknowledged reasons for the reduction of emissions, including CO, CO2, hydrocarbons,
SO2, particles, and smoke. Biodiesel contains 10% oxygen, whereas diesel contains no
oxygen . As stated in Table 5, biodiesel surpasses diesel and gasoline in a/
number of categories, including higher cetane number, low ash content, and low carbon
residue, while the other attributes can be enhanced through blending High cetane value will
reduce

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the ignition value for better performance of engine and emission Biodiesels contain high
number of viscosities compared to diesel Viscosity influences fuel injection systems
performance, especially when fuel fluidity is affected by an increase in viscosity at low
temperatures. High viscosity causes low fuel spray atomisation and less precise operation of
fuel injectors. As the lower the viscosity of the biodiesel, the easier it is to pump and
atomize and achieve finer droplets The most significant advantage of biodiesel over
petroleum diesel is its environmental friendliness Portability, easy availability, renewability,
better combustion efficiency, and lower sulphur and aromatic content are all benefits
biodiesel as a diesel fuel . The biodegradability of biodiesel has been offered as a waste
solution. Biodiesels have a growing number of possible applications and are
environmentally friendly.

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Objective:

 Developing a Sustainable Fuel Alternative:

To investigate biodiesel from WCO as an eco-friendly, renewable alternative to conventional
diesel, reducing dependency on fossil fuels.

 Optimizing Biodiesel Production:

To identify optimal process parameters (e.g.,alcohol-to-oil ratio, reaction temperature,
catalyst type) for maximizing biodiesel yield and quality from WCO

 Evaluating Catalyst Efficiency:

To assess various catalysts (homogeneous,
heterogeneous, enzymatic) in terms of cost, effectiveness, and environmental impact, and to
determine the most effective catalyst for large-scale biodiesel production.

 Reducing Production Costs:

To explore the use of waste cooking oil as a low-cost feedstock for biodiesel production,
making biodiesel economically viable

 Assessing Environmental Benefits:

To quantify the environmental benefits of biodiesel from WCO, including lower greenhouse
gas emissions and reduced pollution compared to conventional diesel.

 Analyzing Engine Performance and Emissions:

To test the biodiesel’s performance in diesel engines and compare its emissions (CO, NOx,
particulate matter) with those from petroleum diesel, verifying its effectiveness as a cleaner
fuel

 Contributing to Waste Management Solutions:

To provide a practical method for recycling waste cooking oil, reducing waste disposal
issues and environmental pollution

D. Y. Patil College of Engineering, Akurdi, B.E. (Mechanical)

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  SCOPE OF STUDY
The scope of this study is to investigate the feasibility and efficiency of producing
biodiesel from waste cooking oil. The research will focus on the following key areas:
1. Feedstock Analysis:
○ Characterization of waste cooking oil, including its physical and chemical
properties.
○ Assessment of the quality and suitability of waste cooking oil as a feedstock for
biodiesel production.
2. Transesterification Process:
○ Optimization of reaction parameters such as temperature, reaction time, catalyst
type, and alcohol to oil molar ratio.
○ Evaluation of different catalysts (homogeneous and heterogeneous) for their
effectiveness in the transesterification process.
○ Investigation of the impact of process variables on biodiesel yield and quality.
3. Biodiesel Properties:
○ Determination of the fuel properties of the produced biodiesel, including density,
viscosity, cetane number, and calorific value.
○ Comparison of the properties of biodiesel with conventional diesel fuel.
4. Engine Performance and Emission Studies:
○ Evaluation of the performance and emission characteristics of a diesel engine
using biodiesel blends.
○ Assessment of the impact of biodiesel blends on engine performance parameters
such as brake power, brake specific fuel consumption, and thermal efficiency.
○ Analysis of exhaust emissions, including particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, and
carbon monoxide.

D. Y. Patil College of Engineering, Akurdi, B.E. (Mechanical)

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METHODOLOGY

1. Waste cooking oil sample preparation: Waste cooking oil was collected from
café, restaurants and street fast food sellers in Addis Ababa city which has been used
for food frying. The waste cooking oil was settled for 4−6 days at room temperature
and pressure and later filtered by sieves of hole size 100 nm to remove any
suspended food particles and inorganic residues and followed by heating at 110 °C
for water removal

2. Nano-catalyst synthesis. CaO nano-catalyst was prepared by thermal

decomposition method A nitrate solution was prepared by mixing 11.81 g of
calcium nitrate tetrahydrate (Ca (NO3)2.4H2O) was dissolved in 25 ml of ethylene
glycol solution and 2.10 g of sodium hydroxide was added into above mixture under
vigorous stirring. In order to get uniform size nanoparticles, after it has been stirred
for 10 min, the gel solution was kept about 5 hours at static state. Then it was
washed using distilled water followed by vacuum drying. Finally, different sizes of
CaO nano-particles were obtained after calcination at 500 °C

3. Catalyst characterization. The synthesized catalyst properties

were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) for identification of
major components and for the determination of crystallite size.
XRD analysis was performed with Mini Flex 600 × -ray diffraction
(XRD) system with Ni filtered CuKα radiation at λ = 0.154 nm and
Scanning electron microscope (SEM) JSM-IT300 LV was used to
study the morphology of the synthesized

4. Transesterification process. Biodiesel is produced from

triglycerides in the presence of alcohol with catalyst through
transesterification reaction.

5. Biodiesel characterization. The separated biodiesel was heated

above the boiling point of methanol (64.7 °C) to remove excess
unreacted methanol. Moreover, very few suspended solid catalysts
are removed by settling it for two to three days then the Biodiesel
viscosity, specific gravity, water and sediment, total acidity, ash

D. Y. Patil College of Engineering, Akurdi, B.E. (Mechanical)

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 content, sulfur content, Flash Point and Cloud Point were checked
according to the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM
D 6751).
2 LITERATURE REVIEW

Various Types of research studies by different authors are :

1) Journal of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Research, 2015, 7(12):670-68 “Biodiesel
production from waste cooking oil” Mohammed Abdul Raqeeb and Bhargavi R

2) Biodiesel production from waste cooking oil: A brief review M.U.H. Suzihaque’ Habsah
Alwi, Ummi Kalthum Ibrahim, Sureena Abdullah c Normah Haron d

3) Biodiesel Production from Locally Sourced Restaurant WastCooking Oil and Grease:
Synthesis, Characterization, and Performance Evaluation, Sang Hyuck Park,* Neelam
Khan, Seungjin Lee, Kathryn Zimmermann, Matthew DeRosa Lennox
Hamilton,Whitney Hudson, Syed Hyder, Marlyne Serratos, Evan Sheffield,

4) Biodiesel production from waste cooking oil: A comprehensive review on the application
of heterogenous catalysts Monikaa,b, Sangita Bangaa, Vinayak V. Pathaka

5) Optimized Biodiesel Production from Waste Cooking Oil (WCO) using Calcium Oxide
(CaO) Nano- catalyst TadesseAnbessie Degfe, TadiosTesfaye Mamo & Yedilfana
Setarge Mekonnen

D. Y. Patil College of Engineering, Akurdi, B.E. (Mechanical)

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