Settling Behaviour of Glycerol During Oil Alkali Transesterification

The effect of the type of oil, types of alcohol and the alcohol concentration on the settling behaviour of glycerol during biodiesel production is discussed in the current paper. Biodiesel production was performed by transesterification using 0.58 % sodium hydroxide (NaOH) as a basic catalyst at 60°C and 20 min of reaction time. The yield of biodiesel produced in each experiment was separated from glycerol and determined. Equal ratio of the biodiesel and the glycerol obtained from each experimental run was vigorously re-mixed and subsequently, the settling behaviour of glycerol was observed. The settling time reduces significantly with increasing alcohol concentration. When a mixture of two types of alcohols is used, synergetic effect of the mixed alcohols reduces the settling time of glycerol.