SUSTAINABLE BIODIESEL PRODUCTION FROM BLENDS OF WASTE COOKING OIL AND MICROALGAE OIL

Waste cooking oil and microalgae oil could become alternative raw materials for biodiesel production in the global quest for energetic sustainability. However, the technical and economic viability of the biodiesel production process from these alternative sources has not been fully investigated yet, within the knowledge of the authors. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to carry out an exergetic and economical analysis of the biodiesel production process from blends of waste cooking oil and microalgae oil. Initially, the mass, energy and exergy balances of the process of the biodiesel production was conducted. Then, an optimization procedure was executed with the selected objective functions. The results showed that it is possible to optimize the process as a function of the ratio of destroyed exergy system by the amount of ester produced, generating a profit of $ 29.50 per second, for an ratio of oil/ethanol of 3.7/1. In conclusion, the proposed model can also be used in the future for performing the exergoeconomic optimization of biodiesel production processes from blends of waste cooking oil and microalgae oil, aiming at achieving process sustainability.