Obtención de biodiesel por transesterificación a partir de aceites de cocina usados con un catalizador regenerado

Abstract

The objective of this research was to obtain biodiesel with a regenerated catalyst to observe its power to convert used cooking oil into biodiesel, for which the biodiesel obtained was compared with the regenerated catalyst with biodiesel obtained through NaOH. For the transesterification process, the oil's characteristics were used to know the amount of reagents to be used. For NaOH, 3.5g per L of oil was used with a reaction period of 1 h. To obtain biodiesel with a catalyst, 15g per L of oil was used with a reaction time of 4 to 8 h, showing a better reaction with a period of 8 h since the time used was less than this incomplete reaction. The results presented for the use of NaOH show a yield greater than 80% with a percentage of FAME 93.78%, as well as the physical properties: viscosity, density, caloric power and flash point are within ASTM standards, while the biodiesel obtained with the catalyst, it presents a yield greater than 80%, even reaching 90%. However, the composition of FAME is low, at 38.98%. The physical properties, such as viscosity, density, and flash point, are within ASTM standards, and the caloric value is low compared to biodiesel obtained with sodium hydroxide, so it is advisable to use it in combination with commercial diesel so that it does not show affected fuel performance in a vehicle engine. It is concluded that using the regenerated catalyst is not very effective for the transesterification process, despite having the advantage of not generating glycerine in the process.