Study of the Effect of Simple Filtration Composition of Waste Cooking Oil on the Quality of Biodiesel for Generator Fuel

Used cooking oil has great potential as a raw material for biodiesel due to its abundant availability and low price, but its quality often decreases due to high free fatty acid and impurities content. This study aims to examine the effect of variations in simple filtration compositions on improving the quality of used cooking oil before the conversion process into biodiesel. The filtration process was carried out using a combination of simple media such as activated charcoal, fine sand, and zeolite in certain ratios. The parameters tested included the density value at 15°C (kg/m³), the kinematic viscosity value at 50°C (mm²/s), and the calorific value (kcal/g) of the produced biodiesel. The experimental method involved several variations in filtration compositions followed by a standard transesterification process. The results of the study showed that the optimal filtration composition was able to produce B40 biodiesel at a temperature variation of 50-60 15°C with a density value of 868.5 kg/m³, a kinematic viscosity of 3,570 mm²/s, and a calorific value of 9772.4 kcal/g according to the standard range of SNI 7182:2015. In addition, biodiesel from simply filtered used cooking oil can be used as a generator fuel with an energy efficiency performance of 34.79% in an 8.5 kVA generator test. This finding provides an alternative for simple, inexpensive, and environmentally friendly used cooking oil processing to support the availability of renewable energy.