| Fats and oils have been studied for their incredible ability to act as renewable resource. There are many publications describing fats and oils as an alternative fuel method (biodiesel fuel) however, they all presented results of research that was performed on a small number of cooking oil waste, evaluated with base-catalyst reaction of triglyceride only, evaluated with acid- catalyst reaction triglyceride only, or limited instrumentation. Animal fat waste and cooking oil waste contain large amounts of free fatty acids (FFA) that can be converted into biodiesel through transesterification. Eight cooking oil waste and one animal fat waste were selected samples subjected for transesterification, purification options, and analysis. To assess the different brand of commercially sold animal fat waste and cooking oil waste, 9 products were collected from local stores and analyzed for their fatty acid methyl ester content.;There are few biodiesel transesterification and purification studies found in the literature describing the chemical modification of the different oils. The transesterification reaction was performed on each animal fat waste and cooking oil waste and the fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) were separated. Selected animal fat waste and cooking oil waste were also placed under different atmospheric pressure to increase the biofuels efficiency and reduce impurities.;We investigated each oil and fats using different instrumentation. The detailed methods used Thin Layer Chromatography for separation of chemical mixture, Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry for analysis of fatty acid methyl esters, Thermogravimetric analysis with measures of weight change in a controlled atmosphere and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy for functional groups and measure intensity.;The vegetable and animal fat were examined to determine their fatty acid methyl esters composition and compared to diesel fuel and FAME standards. The results obtained suggested that the animal fat waste and cooking oil waste are rich in unsaturated fatty acids, the major components of unsaturated fatty acids are Palmitic (16:0), Linoleic (C18:2), Oleic (C18:1) and the saturated fatty acids, and Stearic (C18:0). |
