Biodiesel Production from Used Vegetable Oil Collected from Shops Selling Fritters in Kolkata

Used vegetable oil is an important feedstock for biodiesel production. Biodiesel has been produced from used vegetable oil collected from shops selling fritters in Kolkata. Transesterification is affected by factors like oil to alcohol ratio, concentration of catalyst used, temperature, stirring rate and reaction time. The process parameters were optimized and a maximum biodiesel yield of 94% has been achieved. Important properties of the biodiesel like density, flash point, calorific value and viscosity have also been estimated.