USE OF COW TALLOW AS A FEEDSTOCK FOR BIODIESEL PRODUCTION


Cow Tallow a by-product of slaughter houses can be used as a viable feedstock for the production of biodiesel due to its high yield capacity, availability, and low cost. Sodium hydroxide and methanol were used as catalyst and solvent respectively. Characterization of oil and biodiesel samples were carried out using Association of analytical chemist (AOAC) and American society of testing and materials (ASTM) respectively. Other characterization methods used were Fourier transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and gas chromatography-mass spectrophotometry (GC-MS) techniques. FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy) was carried out to characterize (identify the constituent elements) of both the feedstocks and their methyl esters. The fatty acid profile of the raw feedstocks and the produced methyl esters were taken to ascertain the % concentration of the different fatty acids and their effect on the quality of biodiesel produced . The physico-chemical properties of the bioiesel produced were also determined and compared with standards. A biodiesel yield of 92.33 wt% was obtained which thus confirms that cow tallow was a viable feedstock for the production of biodiesel.


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