Biodiesel production from used cooking oil using controlled reactor plant

Transesterification of waste (used) cooking oil presents an economic and environmental friendly means of producing biodiesel. In Africa and Nigeria in particular, the production of biodiesel from waste cooking oil will also serve to eliminate or at least reduce a looming potential health risk associated with the consumption of over used cooking oil among the populace particularly those working in hotels, restaurants, eateries, etc and their families. Biodiesel is an alternative diesel fuel produced from a catalyzed reaction of the triglycerides in the oil or fat with a simple monohydric alcohol (methanol). The thrust of this work is the design and building of a compact table-top chemical reactor for carrying out trans-esterification of used cooking oil for the production of biodiesel. We first designed a special filter used to filter the used vegetable oil. The filter was made of activated carbon felt material, having an equivalent surface area of 1300m²/g. Subsequently, we developed a process to produce biodiesel from a compact chemical reactor plant with a control system using temperature sensors and an adjustable speed electric drive. Detailed operating conditions and equipment design for the process were obtained and analysis of the characteristic properties of our product was carried out to evaluate the technical and economic benefits, including environmental effects. Our analysis showed that the biodiesel we produced using waste cooking oil (used vegetable oil) met with international standards such as ASTM D 6751-07b. The cost of our pilot-scale produced biodiesel was $0.52/litre, which is about half the price of petroleum diesel in the Nigerian market. Thus, biodiesel from waste cooking oil proved to be technically and economically feasible and can be a competitive alternative to the highly priced petroleum diesel.