Theses and dissertations (Engineering and Built Environment)
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Item Experimental and computational exploration of advanced biodiesel fuels and hybridisation process evaluation of feedstocks and their chemical combinations(2022-09-29) Etim, Anietie Okon; Musonge, Paul; Eloka-Eboka, Andrew C.To address the alarming crisis of global energy demand, environmental degradation and climate change, biomass derived diesel fuel is one of the superior renewable fuel options, considered as suitable alternative to petroleum fuel. Important fuel characteristics of biomass derived diesel fuel ranges from being recyclable available local fuel to auspicious performance in combustion emission reduction. In this study, waste oil and other indigenous tropical seed oils, which include; used sunflower oil (USO), linseed oil (LSO), marula seed oil (MSO), baobab seed oil (BSO) and Trichilia emetica kernel oil (TEKO) were investigated for biodiesel production and further scrutinised for the hybridization process for effective applications. The process of hybridization applied was a two-pathway approach via in-situ and ex-situ transesterification reactions. Biological wastes mineral-rich materials such as eggshells, banana peels and pawpaw peels were used to produce the bio-alkaline catalysts. The waste materials were washed with distilled water, dried in the oven and further subjected to high temperature of calcination in the furnace. Eggshells were calcined at 900 oC for 3 h while pawpaw and banana peel were calcined for 3 h at 700 oC respectively. The calcined ash of eggshells and banana peel, eggshells and pawpaw peels were bonded respectively via wet impregnation method and further activated at high temperatures to obtain hybridized bio-alkaline catalysts. The synthesized samples of all catalyst were characterized using Fourier transforms infrared (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The catalysts produced were applied in the production of biodiesel from waste and underutilized oils such as used sunflower oil (USO), linseed oil (LSO), marula seed oil (MSO), baobab seed oil (BSO) and Trichilia emetica kernel oil (TEKO) under an optimized transesterification reaction process. The operating parameters considered viz methanol-to-oil ratio, catalyst loading, and reaction time temperature were investigated and optimized using Response surface methodology (RSM) to obtain the best operation condition for the maximum yields. The optimized condition established from the biodiesel fuel produced was used as a standard for the transesterification reaction condition for the single and hybrid oils. The two pathways hybrid process; In-situ (co-mingling of oils prior transesterification) and Ex-situ (comingling of the single biodiesel fuels after transesterification) was used to evaluate and compare the differences between the two processes and how effective they can be deployed commercially. The four crude oils considered for the study (USO, LSO, MSO and BSO) were analysed while fractions of them were individually converted via transesterification to obtain single biodiesel fuels (SOBFs): used sunflower oil methyl ester (USOME), linseed oil methyl ester (LOME), marula oil methyl ester (MOME) and baobab oil methyl ester (BOME). Then the remaining fractions were pre-treated and co-mingled in 27 various combinations to form new oils (of bi-and poly-hybrids) called the hybridized oils (HOs). These different combinations were then trans-esterified to obtain hybridized oil methyl esters (HOMEs) - In-situ hybridization. Thereafter, the SOBFs - (USOME, LSOME, MSOME and BSOME) were hybridized in the same pattern following the same ratios to form new products termed hybridized methyl ester (HMEs) - Ex-situ hybridization. All the produced biodiesel fuels: USOME, TEKOME, LOME, MOME, BOME and HOMEs were individually blended with petrol-diesel and their chemo-physical properties were analysed and compared with the international (ASTM and EN) and South African (SANS) standards. The impact of the chemical combinations on the physico-chemical properties of all the biodiesel produced was investigated and computed using artificial neural networks (ANN). Their influence on the important thermophysical fuel properties such as cetane number and calorific values were also evaluated. The characterization results revealed that eggshell is an excellent source of natural CaO while the banana and pawpaw peels are rich in potassium compounds such as: KCl, K2SO4, K2CO3, K2O which are efficient catalyst compounds for biodiesel production. The hybridized catalysts were found to be effective and of high basicity and active in oil conversion to biodiesel. The process of in-situ and ex-situ hybridization and their blends with petro-diesel were found to be a very effective approach to be adopted in the biodiesel production process. High conversion of biodiesel yields was obtained via the process of in-situ transesterification, indicating that the transesterification process is not affected by the number of mixing ratios of oils. The two process pathways offered improved properties that are much more conformable to standards than most of the single biodiesel produced fuels. Some properties such as density, acid value, viscosity, calorific value and cetane number were found a bit lower in ex-situ than in in-situ hybrids under the same hybrid conditions. The predicted properties obtained from the two protocols by ANN show good alignment with the experimental values with high regression coefficients close to unity (1). The improved fuel properties obtained following these protocols were within the international and South African standard specifications. The general principles and model predictions of the subsequent properties of biodiesel presented in this study will serve as a database and template for effective development for the overall biofuels applicationItem Hydrogenation of coconut oil into Biofuel (bio-jet fuel and high-value low molecule hydrocarbons)(2021-12-01) Zikhonjwa, Emmanuel; Kiambi, Sammy LewisThe performance of Ni/HZSM-5, HZSM-5, and without a catalyst have been investigated for the hydrogen pressure range of 10-40bar hydrocracking of coconut oil in a packed-bed tubular reactor between 300-450°C. This study concentrates on the effect of the operating parameters (reaction pressure, type of catalyst and reaction temperature) on the yield of transportation fuel carbon range (C5-C22) using the One-Variable-At-A-Time approach. The objectives of this study are to evaluate the effect of process conditions which includes: temperature, pressure, and presence of a catalyst, and to compare the activity of Ni/HZSM-5, HZSM-5 and without catalysts. All tested catalysts were effective in attaining biofuel range in the liquid product. The highest yield and performance of gasoline liquid composition 83.03% was obtained from the reaction pressure at constant temperature of 450 ͦC in 40bar where HZSM-5 catalysts was used, the yield of gasoline liquid composition 82.25% was also produced at constant pressure of 40 bar in 300 ͦC where promoted catalyst(Ni/HZSM-5) was used. Hydrocracking coconut oil under Ni/HZSM-5 catalysts produced the highest yield of jet fuel liquid compositions 78.73% at constant temperature 300°C, and pressure of 10 bar, this was due to less coke that was formed within a reactor and less temperature of 300°C. The highest yield of jet fuel liquid composition 75.67% was also produced at constant pressure of 10 bar at muximum temperature of 450 ͦ C, this was also due to less coke that was formed within a reactor where HZSM-5 was used because of less pressure applied. For the highest yield of diesel liquid composition 24.04%, constant temperature at 400 ͦC of 20 bar where Ni/HZSM-5 was used in figure:5-9 and the highest yield of diesel liquid composition 25.15% was also produced at constant pressure of 20 bar in 450 ͦC where HZSM-5 was used. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) coupled with Energy- dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) analyses were employed for catalyst characterization. XRD patterns confirm the success of metal doping on ZSM-5. Major peaks at 9.1° and 22.9° corresponding to ZSM-5 crystals were observed in ZSM-5. Impregnation with metals reduced the crystallinity of ZSM-5 supported catalysts.Item Thermal conversion of algal biomass and its derivatives to fuels and petrochemicals(2021-04) Mustapha, Sherif Ishola; Isa, Yusuf Makarfi; Bux, FaizalThermal conversion processes have gained increased attention since they can be applied to whole microalgae (not lipids alone) resulting in higher biofuel yield with potential for production of other high-value products. The major challenges of microalgal thermal conversion are the high level of nitrogen and oxygen content present in the product stream, as well as high acidity which makes the bio-oil unstable and unfit for use as transportation fuels directly. Transportation fuels are expected to be low in oxygen and acid content for stability and also have low nitrogen content to meet environmental emission standards for combustion. Nutrient stress as a tool for enhancement of yields and quality of bio-oils produced from thermal conversion of microalgae has not received sufficient attention. This study investigated the conversion of Scenedesmus obliquus microalgae via three different thermal conversion processes which include pyrolysis, hydrothermal liquefaction and hydrothermal gasification. Scenedesmus obliquus microalgae were grown under nutrient stressed and unstressed conditions. To better understand the effect of nutrient stressing on the process, pyrolysis experiments were conducted on unstressed S. obliquus microalgae biomass (N3), nutrient- stressed S. obliquus microalgae biomass (N1) and its residual algae biomass after lipid extraction (R-N1) at different temperatures (400 °C to 700 °C) and the results compared. Detailed biomass characterization which includes proximate analysis, ultimate analysis, biochemical analysis, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA/DSC) were carried out on the microalgae biomass (N1, R-N1 and N3) to provide useful information about the combustion behaviour of the biomass during pyrolysis. The biomass characterization results indicated that nutrient-stressed condition altered the microalgae biomass composition and empirical formula for N1, R- N1, and N3 microalgae biomass were CH2.00N0.07O0.71, CH2.36N0.08O0.75, and CH2.35N0.14O0.71, respectively. The maximum bio-oil yield for N1 (46.37 wt%) and R-N1 (34.85 wt%) were obtained at 500 °C, while the highest yield of bio-oil for N3 (41.94 wt%) was obtained at 600 °C. Also, the proportion of nitrogen compounds in N3 bio-oil (47.4 %) was significantly higher than that obtained in the nutrient stressed microalgae biomass (N1) bio-oil (5.92%) at pyrolysis temperature of 500 °C. Thus, nutrient stressed approach is considered more promising to produce a higher yield and good-quality pyrolytic bio-oil from microalgae biomass. A predictive model was developed based on artificial neural network (ANN) and can serve as a framework for the prediction of bio-oil yield from the pyrolysis of microalgae biomass. Finding better heterogeneous catalysts that can enhance the quality of microalgal bio-oils to meet transportation fuels standards is seen as a major advance toward developing efficient and sustainable thermal conversion processes. In this study, pyrolysis of nutrient- stressed Scenedesmus obliquus microalgae over various supported metal M/Fe3O4-HZSM- 5 catalysts (M = Zr, W, Co and Mo) was investigated. The synthesized catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), high-resolution scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy (HRSEM/EDS). The catalyst: biomass ratio and temperature influence on pyrolysis product yield was also investigated. Between these, Co/Fe3O4-HZSM-5 catalyst showed better activity in enhancing the bio-oil quality and yield; it had the lowest nitrogen content (4.77 wt%) and highest bio-oil yield (17.73 wt %) as well as highest HHV (40.78 MJ/kg) which is almost similar to that of crude petroleum. The results showed that all the supported metal catalysts during pyrolysis promote aromatization and acid ketonization of bio-oils. The total amounts of acids present in pyrolytic bio-oil significantly decreased from 26.68% (non-catalytic) to between 0.58 – 9.68% (catalytic). Also, production of 2-pentanone was observed to increase from ~10% (non-catalytic) to 27.36 – 53.90% (catalytic). In terms of energy recovery, Co/Fe3O4-HZSM-5 had about 40% energy recovery, which was the highest while the least performing catalyst was W/Fe3O4-HZSM-5 with 24.18% energy recovery in bio-oil. Overall, Co/Fe3O4-HZSM-5 was the most effective catalyst in enhancing the quality of pyrolytic bio-oil produced from nutrient stressed Scenedesmus obliquus microalgae with properties close to that of petroleum crude. Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of nutrient-stressed microalgae (Scenedesmus obliquus) (N1) with and without the use of Zr/HZSM-5 catalyst was investigated under temperature conditions ranging from 250 – 350 °C. The Zr/HZSM-5 catalyst was synthesized using wet impregnation technique and characterization was conducted on the synthesized catalyst for its crystalline nature, morphology and thermal stability using X- ray diffractometer (XRD), High-resolution scanning electron microscopy (HRSEM) and thermogravimetric analysis/differential scanning calorimetry (TGA/DSC). The HTL experiments were also conducted on the unstressed microalgae (N3) for comparison. Under the stressed condition, the protein content of the microalgae was reduced from 42.35% to 22.08% while the carbohydrate and lipid contents were increased from 25.36% to 42.55% and 17.16% to 21.62% respectively. The maximum HTL bio-oil yield of 52.80 wt% and 24.27 wt% were found for N1 and N3 respectively at 350 °C with addition of Zr/HZSM-5 catalyst. Higher denitrogenation and deoxygenation was achieved with N1 compared to N3. At high temperature of 350 °C, the most abundant fatty acid in N1 was found to be cis- vaccenic acid (omega-7- fatty acid), and this could be explored for possibility of extracting products of great value from the bio-oil for applications other than biofuels. Mainly, the use of Zr/HZSM-5 catalyst on nutrient-stressed S. obliquus microalgae resulted in enhanced bio-oil yield and characteristics which compared well with petroleum crude. The potential of using whole algae, lipid and residual algae of S. obliquus microalgae as feedstocks for production of high-quality hydrogen and methane-rich gas via hydrothermal gasification technique was also examined. The effect of operating parameters such as temperature, pressure and biomass concentration on the yield and composition of gaseous products using whole algae, lipid, and lipid extracted algae (LEA) as feedstocks was examined. The results showed that reaction pressure had minimal impact while temperature, biomass concentration and feedstock composition had significant effects on the composition of gaseous products. It was also found that low temperature (400 oC) and biomass concentration of 40 wt% favoured the production of methane-rich gas. In contrast, high temperature (700 oC) and low biomass concentration (10 wt%) favoured hydrogen- rich gas production in all the three feedstock considered. The highest mole fraction achieved for CH4 was 53.45 mole%, 61.70 mole% and 52.20 mole% which corresponded to CH4 yield of 31.14 mmol/g, 56.90 mmol/g and 30.15 mmol/g for whole algae, lipid and LEA respectively. For H2 rich gas production, the highest mole fraction achieved were 55.77 mole%, 52.29 mole% and 55.34 mole% which corresponded to H2 yield of 75.44 mmol/g, 105.51 mmol/g and 73.49 mmol/g for whole algae, lipid and LEA respectively. The ranking order for the yield and lower heating value (LHV) of the product gas from the HTG process was lipid > whole algae > LEA. This study has shown that hydrogen-rich and methane-rich gas can be produced from the hydrothermal gasification of microalgae as a function of the reaction conditions and feedstock composition. Also, the suitability of nutrient stressed approach and use of catalysts to enhance the quality of bio-oil produced from thermal conversion of microalgae biomass was established.Item Optimisation of biodiesel production from Croton Gratissimus oil(2018) Jiyane, Phiwe Charles; Musonge, Paul; Tumba, KanikiConsumption of liquid energy products, primarily fossil-based fuels, by the transportation industry, is high and has caused an escalation of the energy crisis facing global communities. This protracted use of fossil fuels has inadvertently resulted in an increased concentration of CO2 and other greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere, leading to environmental degradation. An environmentally friendly alternative fuel source, in the form of biofuels, has been found. These biofuels are biodegradable, boasting reduced levels of particulate matter (PM), carbon monoxide (CO), obnoxious sulphur (SOx) and nitrogen compounds (NOx) in their combustion products. In African countries, particularly the Republic of South Africa (RSA), the urgency for the establishment of a viable biodiesel industry is driven by the vulnerability of crude oil prices, high unemployment, climate change concerns and the need for the continent’s growing economies to use their resources in a sustainable manner. In order to address these concerns, this investigation focused on the extraction of non-edible oil from the seeds of the indigenous Croton gratissimus plant, the catalytic synthesis of biodiesel and the optimisation of the developed biodiesel production process. In this optimisation study, biodiesel was produced from oil extracted from Croton gratissimus seeds using synthesised monoclinic sulphated zirconia (SO42–/ZrO2) and KOH as catalysts. Low oil extraction yields (29.35%) obtained for this crop were attributed to its low unsaturated fatty acid content of 25.4%. From the model developed for the esterification of Croton 2– gratissimus oil, the concentration of SO4 /ZrO2 catalyst had the most significant effect in the reduction of the Acid Value of oil. This was substantiated by flat response surfaces observed on the RSM surface plots when all other design factors were varied whilst keeping catalyst concentration constant. The operating conditions for the esterification process that could give an optimum Acid Value of 2.693 mg KOH/g of oil were therefore found to be; 10.96 mass % SO42–/ZrO2 catalyst concentration, 27.60 methanol-to-oil ratio and 64 0C reaction temperature. In the optimisation of the transesterification process, the model showed that catalyst concentration, methanol-to-oil ratio, reaction temperature, and their interactions were all significant model terms. But catalyst concentration and methanol-to-oil ratio, were the terms found to have the most influence on the percentage fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) yield and percentage FAME purity. It was established from the combined model that optimum responses of 84.51% FAME yield and 90.66% FAME purity could be achieved when operating the transesterification process at 1.439 mass % KOH catalyst concentration, 7.472 methanol-to-oil ratio and at a temperature of 63.50 0C. The two-step biodiesel process used in this work, produced biodiesel with a high FAME purity and a relatively high FAME yield. Improvement of the oil extraction process may be possible with polar co-solvent such as ethyl acetate, which may increase the FAME yield in the Croton gratissimus biodiesel production process.Item Optimization of biodiesel production using heterogenous catalyst in a packed bed reactor(2018) Ayodeji, Olagunju Olusegun; Musonge, PaulIndustrial development is associated with an increase in pollution levels and rising fuel prices. Research on clean energy contributes to reduction of fossil fuel dependency, decrease in ozone layer depletion and reduction in emission of toxic gases. The development of renewable energies increases the energy independence and reduces the impact of environmental pollution from fossil fuels. The biodiesel market is among the fastest growing renewable energy markets and its demand in the energy sector has tremendously increased over the last decade due to its environmental friendly qualities. Biodiesel is considered as a promising diesel fuel substitute based on the similarities of its properties with that of petroleum based diesel fuel. However, the high cost of the feedstock, environmental pollution as a result of wastewater generated from a homogeneous process has limited its full implementation. In addition, other technical challenges encountered during the production such as the immiscibility of the reagents and the reversibility of the transesterification reaction calls for innovative technologies to be developed. One promising solution to these issues is the use of membrane technology to serve as a reaction and separating medium for the production of biodiesel. This study is aimed at optimizing biodiesel production from vegetable oils using heterogeneous catalysts in a ceramic membrane. The objectives were to evaluate the performance of calcium oxide (CaO) as a catalyst supported on activated carbon in a membrane reactor for biodiesel production. Further still, to evaluate the membrane performance regarding permeate quality and to optimize the process using design of experiment. The final objective was to investigate the influence of operating parameters such as temperature, methanol/oil ratio, catalyst amount and reaction time on biodiesel yield. The transesterification of soya bean oil with methanol in the presence of a supported catalyst was carried out on a laboratory scale. The membrane reactor was designed and assembled for this purpose. The membrane reactor integrated many procedures such as combining reaction and separation in a single unit, continuous mixing of raw materials and maintaining high mass transfer between the immiscible phases during the reaction. The effect of the process parameters on the biodiesel production and FAME (fatty acid methyl ester) yields were investigated. One factor at a time (OFAT) experiments were conducted to identify the optimum range of the yield. The membrane reactor produced a permeate stream which separated at room temperature into a FAME rich non-polar phase and a methanol polar phase. The optimum range was between 90% - 94% within a reaction time of 60 – 180 minutes, methanol to oil ratio 3:1 - 9:1 and temperature range of 60 0C - 70 0C. Methyl ester produced met the ASTM D6751 and SANS 1935 specifications. The response surface methodology (RSM) based on the central composite design (CCD) was used to optimize the process. The optimization experiments were conducted around the optimum range established by the OFAT method. The optimum condition for transesterification of soya bean oil to fatty acid methyl ester was obtained at 3 g/L catalyst concentration, 65 0C temperature, 4.5:1 methanol to oil molar ratio and 90 minutes reaction time. At these optimum conditions, the FAME yield was 96.9 %, which is well within the yield of 97.7 % as predicted by the model. In conclusion, this work presents a study of high quality biodiesel production using a ceramic membrane reactor with the advantage of selectively permeating FAME and methanol. This study therefore showed that the use of a membrane for biodiesel production conserved water for other purposes; eliminates the purification step and wastewater generation thereby reducing the cost of biodiesel production.Item Evaluating the feasibility of converting crude tall oil and tall oil fatty acids into biofuel(2011) Ngcobo, Nkosinathi Cedrick; Pillay, Visvanathan LingamurtiThe main objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of conversion of crude tall oil and tall oil fatty acids into biodiesel. During the Kraft pulping process, Crude Tall Oil originates as tall oil soap, which is separated from recovered black liquor. The soap is then converted to Crude Tall Oil by acidulation with sulphuric acid. The Crude Tall Oil is then fractionated by distillation to produce tall oil fatty acids (TOFA), rosin and pitch. There were a number of conversional methods that were considered but proved to be inappropriate. A base-catalyzed method was inappropriate with due to the high free fatty acid content on the feedstock, and the acid-base catalyzed method was inappropriate due to the long reaction times and large excess of methanol required. An enzyme based conversion method was also found to be inappropriate because of the high price attached to the purchasing of the enzymes and the stability of the enzyme. A procedure of choice was the supercritical methanol treatment, due to the fact that it requires no separate catalyst. A procedure was developed for both the feedstocks (i.e. crude tall oil and tall oil fatty acids) using the supercritical methanol treatment. In supercritical methanol treatment, feedstock and methanol were charged to a reactor and were subjected to temperatures and pressures beyond the critical point of methanol (Tc = 240 °C, Pc = 35 bar). The maximum biodiesel yield obtained from Crude tall oil was 66% and was 81% for the tall oil fatty acids that was produced in a single stage process. The temperature and methanol to feedstock ratio effects was also found to yield a maximum biodiesel yield at 325°C and 40:1 respectively. A 20 minutes reaction time was found to be appropriate for the maximum yield of biodiesel. The final biodiesel produced was also evaluated against a commercial biodiesel product and its parameters measured. The biodiesel resulting from the tall oil fatty acid yielded parameters that were acceptable according to ASTM D6751 specifications for biodiesel. The biodiesel produced from the crude tall oil did not meet the ASTM D6751 specification, and this was mostly attributed to the presence of unsaponifiables which hindered the conversion of oil into biodiesel.Item Evaluation of small-scale batch biodiesel production options for developing economies(2014-06-13) Chukwuka, Gabriel; Rathilal, Sudesh; Ramsuroop, Suresh; Pillay, Visvanathan LingamurtiBiodiesel is a renewable fuel that can be produced from animal fats, vegetable oils or recycled used cooking oil. From the 1970’s, biodiesel received increased focus as an alternative to crude oil and its component products. Among various processes used for biodiesel production, transesterification of glyceride and alcohol in the presence of a catalyst to produce ester (biodiesel) and glycerin remains the most common. In Africa, biodiesel is currently produced industrially in a number of ways via different methods. In South Africa, there are a number of biodiesel production plants that are continuous processes with feed samples from different sources. Reviewing the batch systems for developing economies, various observations were made. Some produced biodiesel using batch systems at room or day temperatures, another used different temperatures, some also used flat based buckets for their mixing and so on. This becomes difficult for local producers who desired to produce biodiesel on a very small scale for their farms or business. Hence, the study was aimed at evaluation batch biodiesel systems and to come up with a simplified approach for a producer in a developing economy or a local user. The objectives of this study were as follows; To evaluate biodiesel production options, and hence develop a simplified process that can be used to produce biodiesel in developing economies. The criteria for evaluation will include: ease of operation, non-specialist equipment, range of feedstock, product quality and product yield. To evaluate various factors that affect these criteria and make recommendations that will enable a local producer to remain within an optimum range Compare the produced biodiesel properties against general biodiesel and petroleum diesel ASTM standard range Recommend simplified equipment design for a local producer Perform economic evaluation to establish cost required both for equipment and raw materials for a local producer. After literature review on the existing processes, base catalyzed transesterification was selected. This is because of the simplicity as well as ease of operation. Experimental trials commenced using feeds from pure vegetable oil (PVO) and waste vegetable oil (WVO) to familiarize biodiesel production, as well as study the behavior of each having the research criteria in focus. Various variables that affect ease of operation, product quality, and yield were also investigated. These include temperature, type of catalyst (KOH or NaOH), type of alcohol (Methanol or Ethanol), concentration of catalyst, and purity of alcohol, and nature of feed (PVO or WVO). The effect of temperature was compared against product quality, yield, and ease of operation. Other variables were also compared against the same criteria. Treatment of WVO because of impurity and moisture contamination associated with such samples was also studied. The product was then tested using some ASTM procedures to compare biodiesel quality to acceptable standards. Efficient reaction time is paramount for a quality biodiesel. It was observed that biodiesel required between 25 and 30 minutes for a complete reaction. Lower temperatures clearly affected the quality of biodiesel produced. Best operating range was found to be between 55 oC – 75 oC is usually recommended for a transesterification reaction to obtain optimum yield and quality. The use of KOH compared to NaOH yields similar results even though NaOH is usually selected because of the reduced cost. The use of methanol compared to ethanol also yields similar results, even though methanol is usually preferred due to cost. Purity of available alcohol is vital as its reduction from 99.5 % to 75 % during experimental trials, yielded poor quality biodiesel. This is mainly due to moisture content that usually gives room for bacteria growth and corrosion of fuel lines in engines. As long as a titration test is carried out on the feed, the use of WVO is a good option. Varying catalyst concentrations from 0.5 % to 1.75 % were considered and the best regimes identified. This test will enable a producer from a growing economy to use the appropriate reagent, which will ensure the transesterification reaction is complete. After comparing appleseed and cone based design, the latter was selected as it will eliminate any difficulty that a local producer might encounter in making the biodiesel batch. In terms of costs, it was discovered that the major costs to a local producer will be the biodiesel mixer and fittings which will be fixed costs. Other variable costs are considered to be affordable, as the cost of waste vegetable oil is very low as well as other industrial reagent grade that will be required. In summary, batch biodiesel production for a local user or developing economy is a very feasible exercise. One needs to ensure that the recommendations regarding pre-treatment of feed oil, basic reaction criteria and other generic parameters are considered during production.