Scientists Develop Improved Biodiesel from Fish and Cooking Oil

Researchers from universities in Spain and Brazil have developed a biodiesel that is more resistant to oxidation by mixing fish oil with cooking oil. Scientists studied the properties of 13 different mixtures of fish, palm and cooking oils, as well as biodiesel from pure oils and found that biodiesel with improved properties came from a mixture of 42.1% fish oil and 57.9% cooking oil. Biodiesel from fish oil is known to have good properties but has a low oxidative stability. Meanwhile, cooking oil has a higher oxidative stability and is a cheap raw material for biodiesel production.

"Biodiesel oxidation is undesirable because it increases viscosity and leads to the formation of insoluble substances, which may cause clogging of pumps and pipes," explains Pedro Jesus Garcia Moreno, one of the study authors and a scientist in the Engineering Chemistry department of the Spanish university.