Microwave assisted biodiesel production using chitosan

Energy is the most essential part of the life. Energy sources can be defined under two titles, renewable energy sources and classical energy sources. Since the last century, classical energy sources have attracted many countries. Fossil fuels are one of the most popular classical energy sources and they can only be obtained from some regions in the world. This situation leads crisis and instabilities in the world economy. Also, diplomatic and political problems emerge due to the sharing of fossil fuels. Turkey uses fossil fuels to cover its energy demand. The fossil fuels used to cover the energy demand of Turkey were imported from foreign countries. This condition makes Turkey dependant to other countries. Petroleum products, which are also a kind of fossil fuel, are used in motor vehicles. Biodiesel is a kind of petroleum product which is very similar to diesel. The raw materials used for the production of biodiesel have biological origin like vegetable oils and animal fats. Turkey has well developed farming and agriculture industry that provides big advantage for biodiesel production. Biodiesel can be produced locally which will help to develop the economy of the country. Characteristics of natural oils used in biodiesel, biodiesel production types and critical parameters considered in production, essential steps of biodiesel production and collection mechanism of waste oils used in biodiesel production were summarised in the literature section. Also, standards of biodiesel fuels and policies used in the biodiesel production were discussed. In this study, the production of biodiesel (FAME; Fatty Acid Methyl Esters) was carried out by using vegetable oils (sunflower oil, corn oil and household waste oil). Two different methods were used to produce biodiesel. Initially, conventional biodiesel production was performed. Then, the biodiesel production supported by microwave was achieved. Compared to other studies, it is the first time that chitosan, which is a kind of biopolymer, was used as a catalyst in the biodiesel production in a Turkish research. Chitosan is a kind of amino-polysaccharide derived from deacetylation of chitin. Quality tests were applied to the biodiesel produced in experiments. The resulting biodiesel were characterized by using percentage yield test, viscosity determination test, flash point determination test, UV-Vis analysis, pH and density analysis. It was seen that the quality and efficiency of the biodiesel fuel obtained by using chitosan biopolymer were higher than the quality of biodiesel fuel produced with classical methods (without chitosan). In conclusion, fuel characteristics of the biodiesel produced in our research were increased. The biodiesel samples were produced in this research were also met with the requirements of TS EN 14214 and ASTM D 6751 fuel standards.