Comparative Study of Biodiesel Production from Pure Sunflower oil and Waste Sunflower Oil

Comparison of the optimum conditions of alkaline-catalyzed transesterification process for biodiesel production from pure sunflower oil (PSCO) and waste sunflower oil (WSCO) through transesterification process using alkaline catalysts was studied. To obtain a high quality biodiesel fuel that comply the specification of standard methods, some important variables such as reactants and catalytic activities were selected. The highest approximately 99 % biodiesel yield acquired under optimum conditions of 5:1 volumetric oil-to-methanol ratio, 0.35% NaOH catalyst at 50°C reaction temperature. The research demonstrated that biodiesel obtained under optimum conditions WSCO was of good quality and could be used as a diesel fuel which considered as renewable energy and environmental recycling process from waste oil after frying.