Design and development of a low-cost reactor for biodiesel production from waste cooking oil (WCO)

Biodiesel stands out as a renewable, biodegradable, and non-toxic fuel when compared to fossil fuels, and has attracted significant attention from researchers and industries for environmental protection and sustainable development. However, around 95% of the world biodiesel production is derived from edible oils, which leads to a competition between oil production for food or for fuel and results in increased costs compared to diesel fuel. Biodiesel production from WCO offers a clean technological solution for both disposal of WCO and cost production problems. For these reasons, non-edible waste cooking oils are considered one of the most promising alternatives of raw material for biodiesel production. WCO can also promote social inclusion in urban areas by generating extra revenue by recycling. The aim of the present work was to develop a low-cost biodiesel reactor by Biosystems Engineering students and teachers from the School of Sciences and Engineering of São Paulo State University (UNESP). The primary goal was to include biofuels technology into the Biosystems Engineering undergraduate curriculum in order to integrate and transcend the contents contemplated in our course by helping the students to build a technological low-cost reactor with innovative research in the biofuels technology field.