The study of transesterification reaction of fresh cooking oil and waste cooking oil showed that the
main factors affecting the process are the molar ratio methanol / oil, the catalyst amount, and the reaction
time. From the obtained results, using the conventional technique, the best bio-diesel 99% and 93% for
the production of biodiesel from fresh cooking oil and waste cooking oil were obtained using a
methanol/oil molar ratio of 6:1, SrO as catalyst (1.85%), and a reaction time 40 seconds and 3 minutes.
The results showed that application of radio frequency microwave energy offers a fast, easy route to this
valuable biofuel with advantages of enhancing the reaction rate and improving the separation process.
The reaction time was reduced to 40 seconds for fresh cooking oil and 3 minutes for waste cooking oil
instead of 150 minutes in previous experiment, because, by using the microwave technique, no
pretreatment is required. The methodology also allows for the use of high free fatty acid content feedstock,
including waste cooking oil. Although, the bio-diesel conversion efficiency for waste cooking oil was less
than fresh cooking oil, it was still useful for bio-diesel production. The heterogeneous catalysts and
microwave irradiation provide new and efficiency method to create energy sources via bio-diesel
recovery and utilization technologies