Biodiesel production from waste cooking oil : Processing, challenges and opportunities in Yemen

Abstract

Biodiesel is a renewable, clean, environmentally safe energy that can replace conventional diesel effectively. Its potential contributes to reducing the great demand for petroleum-based fuel as well as covers the market needs. Fuel price is a real concern nowadays; therefore, it is important to find cheaper raw materials and components (catalyst and alcohol) for the production process to minimize the cost. Biodiesel production using waste cooking oil (WCO) is ideal, not only because of its low in cost but also it is a good step towards environmental protection and economic efficiency. However, it requires additional pre/post-treatment. To get around the drawbacks of the traditional transesterification approach, researchers have developed a variety of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalyzed transesterification reactions. Additionally, the final conversion, yield, and in particular the product quality has been considerably impacted by the use of innovative technologies such as membrane reactors, reactive distillation columns, reactive absorption, and ultrasonic and microwave irradiation. Biodiesel is a suitable alternative fuel for the diesel crisis in Yemen specifically. Its potential has been proven but the production on a large scale is still challenging.