Modeling, Analysis and Optimization for the Biodiesel Production Process from Waste Cooking Oil

The present study proposed a rigorous model using detailed kinetics reaction for the alkali transesterification of waste cooking oil with methanol and Alkali Catalyst (NaOH). Aspen Plus software is used. The results showed that the rigorousness of the model helps in predicting more realism and accurate result. The effect of different parameters on the process like temperature, pressure, residence time, methanol to oil ratio, and catalyst (NaOH) weight percentage were studied. All the studied parameters have significant effect on the process performance except pressure. Optimization of the process also carried out to find the best conditions for maximum profit and maximum production. The optimization results showed that the reaction temperature decreased from 60 to 45 ° C, the reaction time decreased from 60 to 49 minutes, the molar ratio of methanol/oil increased from 6:1 to 7.2:1 mole ratio and the catalytic concentration decreased from 1 to 0.25 wt%.