title: A two-step continuous ultrasound assisted production of biodiesel fuel from waste cooking oils: a practical and economical approach to produce high quality biodiesel fuel.
abstract: A transesterification reaction of waste cooking oils (WCO) with methanol in the presence of a potassium hydroxide catalyst was performed in a continuous ultrasonic reactor of low-frequency 20 kHz with input capacity of 1 kW, in a two-step process. For the first step, the transesterification was carried out with the molar ratio of methanol to WCO of 2.5:1, and the amount of catalyst 0.7 wt.%. The yield of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) was about 81%. A yield of FAME of around 99% was attained in the second step with the molar ratio of methanol to initial WCO of 1.5:1, and the amount of catalyst 0.3 wt.%. The FAME yield was extremely high even at the short residence time of the reactants in the ultrasonic reactor (less than 1 min for the two steps) at ambient temperature, and the total amount of time required to produce biodiesel was 15h. The quality of the final biodiesel product meets the standards JIS K2390 and EN 14214 for biodiesel fuel.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka Prefecture University, Sakai, Osaka 599-8531, Japan. lethanh@chem.osakafu-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Le Tu
authors.initials: le T
authors.lastname: Thanh
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Okitsu
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sadanaga
authors.forename: Norimichi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Takenaka
authors.forename: Yasuaki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Maeda
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bandow
mesh_terms: D056804:Biofuels; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D002384:Catalysis; D004951:Esterification; D004952:Esters; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000737:chemistry; D005990:Glycerol / Q000737:chemistry; D006878:Hydroxides / Q000737:chemistry; D000432:Methanol / Q000737:chemistry; D009821:Oils; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000737:chemistry*; D017680:Potassium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors; D014465:Ultrasonics
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D004952:Esters; D005227:Fatty Acids; D006878:Hydroxides; D009821:Oils; D010938:Plant Oils; D017680:Potassium Compounds; D005990:Glycerol; C029943:potassium hydroxide; D000432:Methanol