Characterization by TG/DTG/DSC and FTIR of frying and fish oil residues to obtain biodiesel

Biodiesel is a fuel derived from vegetable oils or wastes. It has a lot of advantages such as less offensive exhaust, more complete combustion, reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and sulfur in addition to generating employment and wealth. This biofuel can be produced through the transesterification reaction of an alcohol with a triglyceride, with the aid of a catalyst, resulting on a biodiesel as main product, glycerol, and other byproducts. The objective of this study is to determine the optimal reaction conditions for transesterification of waste frying oil and fish, varying the reaction time, the amount of catalyst and temperature, to determine which of these variables exert a greater influence on the reaction yield, and characterize biofuels obtained. For a more accurate assessment of the influence of a given variable on the reaction yield, it was performed a statistical experimental design, the full factorial of two levels with three parameters (23) and three central points, implemented in Statistica 7.0. Regarding the transesterification of waste of the fish oil, the amount of catalyst was the variable that most influenced the reaction yield, the parameters time and temperature had negligible impact on income. Biofuels were also characterized using thermal analysis techniques and FTIR. Most reactions obtained thermogravimetric yield above 90%, a promising result.