Biodiesel production by using the prototype solar reactor
Wuttichai Roschat ^1,2* Sunti Phewphong ² Kanokwan Najai ² and Amonrat Thangthong ^3
1 Program of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, Sakon Nakhon Rajabhat University, Sakon Nakhon, Thailand.
² Biomass Energy Research Laboratory, Center of Excellence on Alternative Energy, Research and Development Institution, Sakon Nakhon Rajabhat University, Sakon Nakhon, Thailand.
³ Program of Environmental Science, Faculty of Science and Technology, Sakon Nakhon Rajabhat University, Sakon Nakhon, Thailand.

Abstract

This work presents the biodiesel production as a fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) by using the prototype solar reactor via the transesterification reaction. Palm olein oil and waste cooking oil were used as a reactant which was attacked with methanol (CH3OH) in the presence of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) as catalysts. The results found that the prototype solar reactor could be heated the reaction mixture of 55±3๐C and the reaction completed at 1 h. %FAME of the obtained biodiesel product was achieved 97.7% (±1%) which was analyzed by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) and gas chromatography spectroscopy (GC) technique, and yield of biodiesel product was 85% (±3%). The main physicochemical properties of the obtained biodiesel meet all the ASTM D6751 and EN14214 standard specifications. Therefore, the use of prototype solar reactor for biodiesel production is the one way to reduce the requirement energy from electricity supply for heating the reaction mixture by the use substitute energy from solar energy source. This research is a simple innovation and technology which suitable for households and small community enterprises to produce the low-cost biodiesel fuel as a cheap energy sources.