AUTOMATION OF A BIODIESEL PROCESSOR FROM WASTE VEGETABLE OIL USING PROGRAMMABLE LOGIC CONTROLLER

There is a strong need in the USA to decrease dependency on fossil fuels and implement a sustainable energy policy. Many efforts are underway to power vehicles and equipment with alternative energy sources. One alternative fuel that has gained much popularity in the past few years is biodiesel. Biodiesel can be produced using virgin vegetable oil or waste vegetable oil (WVO) as the raw material. WVO is readily available and typically inexpensive; however the process to convert WVO into usable biodiesel is time consuming, requires a human operator to run the system, and necessitates a human to perform a chemical titration for each batch of biodiesel produced. Due to these requirements, a typical biodiesel processor requires much operator interaction which has not yet been eliminated by existing "automated" systems. Groups of senior design students were engaged in the design, production, and testing of an automated biodiesel processor. The source of the WVO for this project is the university's food services and other nearby businesses. By converting this WVO to fuel for power generation, the overall waste generated by the campus will be reduced and have a positive environmental impact. The output of the process is certifiable B100 biodiesel. In the first phase of this project, the processor was designed and built by the students utilizing a programmable logic controller (PLC) in conjunction with pumps, valves, temperature sensors, etc., to completely handle the production of biodiesel with minimum operator interaction. The system eliminates the need for the titration process, circulates the fluid thorough the system, and upon completion of a full cycle, the end user is presented with a certified biodiesel. This paper presents the first phase of this project and demonstrates the design and process used to automate biodiesel production using a PLC and how the chemical titration procedure for each batch is eliminated.