Biodiesel production from waste cooking oil (WCO) in Kitchen and Canteens of University

Pellumb GJINOLLI *, Omar ALAGHA * *, Ayse Busra SENGUL * * * * Department of Environmental Engineering Fatih Univeristy, 4th year student Buyukcekmece Istanbul pgjinolli@gmail.com * *Department of Environmental Engineering Fatih University, Assoc.Prof, Buyukcekmece Istanbul oalgha@fatih.edu.tr * * *Department of Environmental Engineering Fatih University, Research Asst. Buyukcekmece Istanbul busrasenegul@fatih.edu.tr

Abstract:
This project aims to analyze the production capacity and availability of Biodiesel in the Fatih University kitchen by using the waste cooking oil (WCO) from this kitchen. This project should not be considered only as a senior project, knowing the fact of need for renewable energy and these days where the fuel prices are increasing day by day and knowing the fact that we are using transport more and more, so by development of this project we will see one more time how we can make solutions for the fuels. In developed countries testing of Biodiesel started a long time ago and in USA it started to commercialize and as a first step it was used in public transport and afterwards, now days it is being used in private cars by the help of the Biodiesel pump stations. Other aim of this project would be to develop the production of Biodiesel and make it to be used more widely since it can be applied to every kind of diesel engine operating vehicles. The method used in this project to convert the oil into biodiesel is: alkali-catalyzed reaction and as catalyst NaOH have been used. Using Biodiesel not only is cheaper then using normal diesel, but also it is environmentally friendly and at the same time it may reduce our dependency in imported fuels. When saying cheaper we mean if we use waste cooking oil (WCO) as a raw material. In this project we are going to see how we can make Biodiesel using the main kitchen of university as the source. Keywords: Biodiesel, Transesterification, Fuel, Free Fatty Acids, Waste Cooking Oil (WCO).

zet
Bu proje, Fatih Universitesinin yemekhanesinden kan atk yan Biodizel retim kapasitesini ele almaktadr. Gnmzde yenilebilir enerji kaynaklarina ihtiyacimiz olduunu, yakit fiyatlarnda da art oldugunu gryoruz. Bu gerekle yzletike bu projenin sadece bir bitirme projesi olarak gorulmemesi gerekir. Bu projenin geliimiyle, fosil yakitlara alternatif yenilenebilir bir yakt retip retemeyeceimizi grmeye alacam. Gelimi lkelerde biodizel retimi 70li yillarda balad, ve ABDde ilk olarak ehir ii otobslerinde kullanldktan sonra, gnmzde zel otomobillerde biodizelden yararlanabilecek duruma geldiler. Bu da biodizel istasyonlarnn kurulmasyla balad. Projenin dier bir amac ise, ev yapm dediimiz biodizelinin kullanmn nasl daha yaygn hale getirebileceimizi grmek. Biodizeli retmek icin kullandiimiz metod, baz-katalizr ile Atk Ya reaksiyona sokarak, yan iinde bulunan Serbest Asit Yalarn (SAY) yok etmek. Bu deneyde baz ve ayn zamanda katalizr olarak bilenen Sodyum Hidroksiti (NaOH) kullandk. Biodizeli, dier dizel yaktlardan sadece daha ucuz oldugu iin degil, ayrca evreci bir yakit tr, ve de yakt ithalatn drebilecek bir seenek olduunu dnyorum. Bu projede Fatih Universitesinin mutfaindan ikan atk yalardan nasl biodizel retebiliceimizi greceiz. Anahtar Kelimeler: Biodizel, Atk Ya, Katalizr, Serbest Asit Yalari (SAY)

1. Introduction: 1.1 What is Biodiesel?

Biodiesel for the first time was used from Henry Ford in his first car that he produced and it was running on alcohol on the other hand Rudolf Diesel was running the diesel engine with peanut oil[1]. Biodiesel is renewable diesel fuel which can be produced by combining any natural oil or fat with methanol or ethanol in chemical means. From these two alcohols, methanol was more widely used in production of Biodiesel. When deciding to produce a Biodiesel we should firstly think of the oil or fat sources that are mostly found in our place, for e.g. In Europe, Biodiesel is widely available in both its neat form (100% Biodiesel, also known as B100) and in blends with petroleum diesel. Most European Biodiesel is made from rapeseed oil (a cousin of canola oil). In the United States, initial interest in producing and using Biodiesel has focused on the use of soybean oil as the primary feedstock, mainly because this country is the worlds largest producer of soybean oil [2].

1.2 Why Biodiesel?

If we want to use Biodiesel, we should compare it with normal diesel and analyze for several conditions like: its emissions, its economics, its efficiency etc. That is why life cycles are constructed. Now I want to discuss a bit why we can choose to produce Biodiesel as an alternative to fossil fuels, One of main reasons is that it can reduce the need for importation of fuel from other countries especially when we know that the prices are getting higher day by day so, with one word, it can prevent the dependency in foreign fuels. Another reason I can state, is that it can help reducing the Green House Gases (GHG) emissions since it is all renewable and starting from the fact that is all renewable fuel it will help us also to get rid from the waste oil otherwise this waste oil will go by the sewage and be problematic for the wastewater treatment plants. One of the most important reasons is that it can prevent air pollution which comes as a result of burning of fossil fuels and it may include: PM (particulate matter), NOx (Nitrogen oxides), SOx (Sulfur oxides), CO (Carbon Monoxide) and HC (Hydro carbons). So from environmental engineering point of view producing the Biodiesel may be very healthy for our planet, especially in these days when in every bodies mind is how to prevent global warming.

2. Project Description: 2.1 Project development Plans:

In introduction part I stated the reasons why we should choose Biodiesel as an alternative to fossil fuels. From the Environmental Engineer point of view it shows the advantages of producing Biodiesel but when we look from economical point of view; if we use virgin oil to produce Biodiesel then the price of this fuel will be 1.5 times higher than petroleum based diesel [3], but since in our project we are going to use waste cooking oil (WCO) the price will be lower. In my project I will focus on the waste cooking oils (WCO) that come from the main kitchen and canteens of the university. Knowing that in campus kitchen there is high potential of used oil for small pilot plant, I feel confident in doing this project. In the main kitchen there are special oil containers which are used for collection of oil and later to be given to licensed Biodiesel producer. In this kitchen approximately 400 kg of used oil is collected every week. Like in every other fuel also in Biodiesel we should consider the life cycle of it; which means the production of Biodiesel from cradle to grave. In this process we check how used oil is collected, transported and till it goes to production also comparing its emissions with other petroleum diesels.

After all arrangements are done then Laboratory is constructed for processing the Biodiesel. The laboratory will be located also in school so that the expenses of transport will be lowered. University will provide all equipments needed for the processing of Biodiesel and in the head of Laboratory will be Assoc.Prof.Omar Alagha who at the same time is the advisor of this project. After producing Biodiesel the other phase is testing it. Biodiesel is kind of fuel that does not need any engine modifications in diesel operating engines so it may be used in every car that has diesel engine except with the cars that are older then 90 but with small modification also this problem may be eliminated[4]. As a last step of the testing procedure comes the measurement of emissions, in order to see if this fuel will be green fuel. By green fuel we understand the kind of fuel that produces fewer amounts of unwanted emissions (PM, SO2, NOx, CO, HC) into atmosphere.

3. Case Study: 3.1 Fatih University Kitchen Introduction:

Fatih University main kitchen is located in the university campus and it serves monthly to approximately 40000 people, with various Turkish meals as well as with other specialties. In this kitchen monthly there are 2000 kg of oil used and from that 1600 kg is collected and used as waste cooking oil (WCO). Kitchen is managed from the company named AYSO which is responsible for cooking and for the hygiene in the kitchen and also for the collection of the waste cooking oil. Due to the regulations from Turkish Ministry of Environment and Forestry, the used oil is collected in special tanks and then given to a licensed Biodiesel producer. Collection of this oil is done in a special place where it is kept for one week, till the licensed Biodiesel producer takes it for Biodiesel processing; other reason of keeping this oil in a special area is that there should not be any contact with meal cooking facilities due to the hygiene conditions. To have a free access to the kitchen I had to take permission from the manager who gave a permission which will be valid throughout the project. Since the kitchen is located in campus there will be an easy access to it and there will not be any transportation required due to the close location with the laboratory.

4. Methodology: 4.1 Methods known for producing Biodiesel

Biodiesel may be described as monoalkyl ester (alcohol and base rxn) of long chain fatty acids that are derived from the waste cooking oils in our case. Most common method to produce Biodiesel is by transesterification which means the reactions of catalyzed chemical involving vegetable oil and an alcohol to yield fatty acid alkyl esters and glycerol [5].

Fig 1. A schematic representation of the transesterification of triglycerides (vegetable oil) with methanol to produce fatty acid methyl esters (Biodiesel). Triacylglycerol is the main component of vegetable oil, consists of three long chain fatty acids. When triacylglycerol reacts with an alcohol (methanol, ethanol or both), the three fatty acids chains are released from the glycerol skeleton and combine with the alcohol to yield fatty acid alkyl esters the most known; fatty acid methyl ester (FAME). Analysis has shown that the alkali-catalyzed process using virgin vegetable oil as the raw material required the fewest and smallest process equipment units but at the raw material price is higher [4]. In the other hand acid-catalyzed process using waste cooking oil proved to be technically feasible with less complexity than the alkali catalyzed process but unfortunately it is not being used till now for commercial means. Since in this project only waste cooking oil (WCO) is going to be used, then we have to filtrate it due to the fact that it may contain free fatty acids (FFA), water, solids etc. The WCO normally contains 5-6% fatty acids but if we want to get good results we should decrease it to 0.5% free fatty acids (FFA). In order to reach to these results we must do the step of esterification by using alkali-catalyzed process. Firstly NaOH was added to methanol and let to be dissolved in a separate container, forming the so called Methoxide. Then methoxide was added to the WCO and mixed; the reason why we did this step was because when NaOH reacts with methanol they would remove almost all FFA present in oil.

Figure 2. Mechanism of biodiesel reaction through alkali-catalyzed process

5. Biodiesel Production Flow Chart:

Fatih University WCO input 2000 kg/month

Storage of waste cooking oil Approx. 1600 kg/month

Lab Experiments for Biodiesel Storage Tanks

Experimental Conditions: 1) Filtration 2) Boiling of WCO 3) Alkali-catalyzed Esterification 4) Settling 5) Removal of Glycerin 6) Wash of Biodiesel 7) Drying of Biodiesel 8) Analysis of Biodiesel

Biodiesel Test

Result and Discussion

Figure 3. Flow Chart of Biodiesel Production

Results & Discussion:

The purpose of this project was to see if the home brewing of Biodiesel is feasible, since home brewing of biodiesel is not against the law. The source for waste cooking oil was chosen the University campus with high capacity of oil. It was observed that the oil coming out from this kitchen was mostly clean and therefore didnt need high amounts of catalyzer to neutralize FFA (free fatty acids). In procedure making biodiesel, reason why NaOH was used is because it can be easily found everywhere. After biodiesel was produced it was not used immediately, it was passed through several test since it is the only way to determine if our biodiesel is ready to be used. Tests that were done to determine if the reaction was completed: Completion of reaction 25 ml of biodiesel were put in 225 ml of methanol and it was fully soluble. Specific gravity test was done to see whether our biodiesel still contains some water after its wash. Clarity test is done to inspect biodiesel by naked eyes, which should be divided in two layers. pH another test to decide whether our biodiesel reaction is completed which for washed biodiesel should show value close to 7. Completing all these test successfully showed that our biodiesel reaction is completed and after several days of drying will be ready to be used. In the beginning of this project I stated that our campus had high capacity for biodiesel production, since monthly there are approximately 1600 kg of waste cooking oil produced so this will be enough for small plant. From the tests and experiments done it was observed that from 1 L of WCO there is 750 ml biodiesel produced so approximately 60 % of WCO is turned into renewable fuel. Since in USA there are a lot of biodiesel home brewers in this country biodiesel forums are very widely used either for information or discussion. From discussion done in USA and other countries, from biodiesel producing companies, using biodiesel in diesel cars doesnt require any modification that is why I feel confident that my study about biodiesel will help the interested people and will give courage to them to produce and start using more this type of renewable fuel.

References:
[1]Bourne, Joel K. Jr., Yesil Dusler, Biyoyakit dunyanin atesini dusurebilecek mi?, National Geographic Turkiye, October 2007, p.112 [2] John Sheehan, Vince Camobreco, James Duffield, Michael Graboski, Housein Shapouri, May 1998,An Overview of Biodiesel and Petroleum Diesel Life Cycles report made for NREL, p.6

[3] Prokop, T., 2002. Personal Communication, Imperial Western Products, 14970 Chandler St., Coachella, CA 91720. [4] www.biodiesel.org

[5] Y. Zhang a, M.A. Dub_e , D.D. McLean ,*,M. Kates, Biodiesel production from waste cooking oil: 1. Process design and technological assessment Bioresource Technology 89 (2003) 116