Biodiesel production by thermal solar heating in a low cost plant using waste cooking oil

Abstract

Due to growing demand for fuel, for several goal, by the consumer market, the fatty acid alkyl esters appears as an alternative source to petroleum diesel, collaborating to the world energetic matrix and reduction of toxic gases in nature, enabling income to needy families on urban and rural areas. The most used chemical route to obtainment of this fuel is transesterification. In this, by the reaction of an alcohol with triglycerides present in vegetables oils, alkyl ester is produced. This paper proposes the utilization of low costs materials and technical application of temperature control in a laboratorial scale plant to alkyl esters production. The plant was composed by a stainless steel batch reactor, volumetric pump, solar thermosiphon system and temperature control system. The equipment proved to be feasible technically both in process temperature control as in the production of waste cooking at atmospheric pressure.