Comparison of Biodiesel Obtained from Virgin Cooking Oil and Waste Cooking Oil Using Supercritical and Catalytic Transesterification

Comparative analysis of transesterification of virgin cooking oil (VCO) and waste cooking oil (WCO) in catalyzed and supercritical transesterification process using methanol and ethanol as solvents has been conducted in this study. The luminous point of this research was the direct comparison of catalytic and supercritical process using the ester composition obtained from virgin cooking oil and waste cooking oil transesterification. Oil to alcohol molar ratio of 1:6 and reaction condition of 65 °C and 1 bar pressure were considered for the catalytic process, while 260 °C and high pressure (65 and 75 bar for methanol and ethanol, respectively) were accounted for the supercritical process. Distinct layer separation was observed for both processes. Ester, fatty acid and glycerol composition was studied for both the upper and lower layers separately, from which 100% ester composition in the upper layer and a mixture of ester and other composition in the lower layer was obtained for the catalytic process owing to succeeding filtration and washing. However, mixture of ester (>75%) and other composition was obtained in both layers for the supercritical process where purification process was not implemented. The similarity in the result obtained demonstrates the superiority of waste cooking oil compared to virgin cooking oil, taking cost into consideration.