Transesterification of Castrol Oil for Biodiesel Production and Glycerol Electro-oxidation

\nIn this study, transesterification of castor oil with methanol using KOH as catalyst was carried out aiming to produce biodiesel and glycerol. Different factors (oil: alcohol ratio, mixing time, and temperature) affecting the products’ yield were optimized and best sets were obtained. The best condition (90% biodiesel yield) required 5:1 oil: alcohol ratio, 2 h mixing, and 60oC. The physical proper-ties (density, viscosity, pour point, cloud point, water content, total sulphur, gross heating value, and total acid number) of the obtained biodiesel was measured and the Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy confirmed again the production of both biodiesel and glycerol. Furthermore, the obtained glycerol was further purified, characterized, and its further electro-oxidation was carried out as a fuel cell application.\n