Performance Analysis of Biodiesel Derived from Alkali Catalyzed Transesterification of Waste Cooking Oil

Abstract

Biodiesel is a promising renewable energy source due to its comparable properties with petroleum diesel and is reported to be friendly environmental. One way to prepare affordable biodiesel is through the transesterification of waste cooking oil. Utilization of biodiesel from waste cooking oil needs a low cost of production and gives a great profit. This paper aims to investigate the synthesis of biodiesel using potassium hydroxide catalyzed transesterification of waste cooking oil in a continuously stirred tank reactor and the performance evaluation of biodiesel-petroleum diesel blend to fuel an unmodified diesel engine. The optimum conditions for the transesterification were at 60°C using a catalyst loading of 2% wt. of waste cooking oil. The biodiesel obtained from this work has met the existing Indonesian regulatory standards for biodiesel. Based on the consumption, acceleration, and opacity tests, up to 10% volume substitution of petroleum diesel with biodiesel can satisfactorily fuel diesel engines without modification.