PRODUCTION OF BIODIESEL FROM WASTE COOKING OIL USING BENTONITE CATALYSTS

The demand for diesel is kept increasing due to rapid population growth which could lead to the depletion of fossil fuel. To encounter the problem, biodiesel has been widely produced as a substituent for conventional diesel. The production of biodiesel from waste cooking oil was carried out via the transesterification process using two types of bentonite catalysts, which are raw bentonite and NaOH/bentonite. NaOH/bentonite catalyst was prepared by the impregnation process at 60ºC for 12 hours. The transesterification was conducted with 0.5wt% of catalyst, at 15:1 (methanol-to-oil), for 2 hours at different reaction temperatures. The characterization of both raw bentonite and NaOH/bentonite was done using X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Brunauer, Emmett, Teller (BET) surface characterization. It was found that a high yield of FAMEs, (72%) was obtained under continuous stirring with 0.5(wt.%) (0.15g) NaOH/bentonite catalyst, at 55ºC and 15:1 methanol/oil molar ratio.