Multifeedstock Biodiesel Production from a Blend of Five Oils through Transesterification with Variation of Moles Ratio of Oil: Methanol

Abstract

This study was conducted to produce biodiesel from a mixture of 5 different oils i.e, palm oil, used cooking oil, soybean oil, canola oil, and sunflower oil, through transesterification under mole ratio variations of oil: methanol. The oils were mixed at a total volume of 300 mL with the same amount of each oil used. The transesterification of blended oils was conducted at 60°C for 1 h, and the mole ratios of oil: methanol were set to 1:3, 1:6, 1:9, 1:12, and 1:15. The results demonstrated that the mole ratios of 1:6 resulted in the highest yield of 92.99% with the conversion of 99.58% mass. The gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCMS) results showed that all mole variations had a methyl ester percentage of more than 98% area. The FTIR analysis revealed peaks that indicated the presence of a methyl ester functional group and its long-chain (–R) for all variations. The methyl ester content, Density, acid value, and total glycerol test parameters were in accordance with the quality standards of ASTM D 6751, EN 14214, and SNI 7182–2015. Therefore, multi-feedstock biodiesel suitable for industrial-scale applications was successfully produced in this study