Biodiesel Production from Waste Frying Oil and Its Process Simulation

Israt Jahan Duti, Maisha Maliha and Shoeb Ahmed

The paper explores the effect of the quantity of methanol on biodiesel production and its characteristics from Waste Frying Oil (WFO). Based on the results, it progresses to develop a continuous process simulation that can be scaled-up for commercial applications. Pretreatment of WFO was carried out by acid-esterification, followed by base-catalyzed transesterification. Optimum molar ratio of methanol: oil was found to be 6:1 experimentally which was then used in Aspen HYSYS to develop a continuous process flowchart. The properties of the product from both approaches were found to be comparable and satisfactorily compatible with the ASTM standards for biodiesel fuel.