Effect of Temperature on the Transesterification of Animal Fat

Abstract

Biodiesel is a potential replacement for petroleum diesel. It is

renewable, environmentally friendly and can be sourced from

vegetable oil and animal fat oil. In this study, the effect of

temperature on the transesterification of animal fat (beef tallow) was

investigated. The transesterification reaction of animal fat oil was

conducted using sodium hydroxide as the catalyst. In the production

process, 1.0g of sodium hydroxide and 100g of animal fat with an

8:1 molar ratio of alcohol to oil was used to produce biodiesel at

varied temperatures of 60oC - 80oC. The biodiesel produced was

characterized using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-

MS). From the analysis, the high yield and conversion of the

triglycerides to fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) was found to be at an

optimum temperature of 60oC. The high yield and conversion of

FAME obtained from the analysis indicated that animal fat is a good

feedstock for biodiesel production. The values of viscosity, density

and flash point of the biodiesel produced at optimum temperature

were compared with ASTM D6751 and EN14214 standards, and the

values obtained were found to be within the required limits.