Optimum condition of biodiesel production from waste cooking oil using continuous stirred tank reactor

Energy demand in Indonesia is increasing, but the availability of fossil energy is running low. Therefore the effort to get renewable energy is increasingly encouraged. The most widely alternative energy used in Indonesia is biodiesel. Waste cooking oil is very potential to be utilized as raw material of biodiesel. Currently there are 3.75 million liters of waste cooking oil per year. Waste cooking oil when discharged into the body of water will form a layer so that oxygen is blocked into the water. Utilization of waste cooking oil into biodiesel will reduce the burden of environmental pollution by waste cooking oil. This paper proposes optimum conditions of biodiesel production from waste cooking oil using continuous stirred tank reactor with base catalyst. The research variables are reaction temperature, the mole ratio of waste cooking oil and methanol, and the amount of catalyst. This paper also evaluates the heating value of biodiesel produced from waste cooking oil.