Eco-friendly synthesis of biodiesel from WCO by using electrolysis technique with graphite electrodes

摘要

Biodiesel is an environmentally viable fuel due to the depleting fossil fuel resources. In this research, the electrolysis method (EM) with graphite electrode has been used for synthesis biodiesel from waste cooking oil (WCO) as a sustainable feedstock. To carry out the process of transesterification of WCO, the ambient temperature was selected. The effects of methanol/WCOs ratio and sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide concentration as a catalyst on the biodiesel conversion were carefully investigated. Under the appropriate transesterification conditions; sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide (1 wt% cat /oil ratios) with optimum solvent-to-oil molar ratios(1:7/5), and water (2 wt%) is applied. The results revealed that the best sample synthesized of biodiesel was achieved without using co-solvent. Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR), GC-Mass and Viscosity characterization were used the assessing techniques for detection of WCO and biodiesel. The results showed that due to the characteristics of the graphite electrode, there is no voltage drop or reduce in reaction speed. The temperature from the beginning to the end of the reaction is constant, which ultimately leads to the production of biodiesel with 98% efficiency.