Potential of waste cooking oil biodiesel as renewable fuel in combustion engines: A review

As non-renewable conventional fossil fuel sources are depleting day by day, researchers are continually finding new ways of producing and utilizing alternative, renewable, and reliable fuels. Due to conventional technologies, the environment has been degraded seriously, which profoundly impacts life on earth. To reduce the emissions caused by running the compression ignition engines, waste cooking oil (WCO) biodiesel is one of the best alternative fuels locally available in all parts of the world. Different study results are reviewed with a clear focus on combustion, performance, and emission characteristics, and the impact on engine durability. Moreover, the environmental and economic impacts are also reviewed in this study. When determining the combustion characteristics of WCO biodiesel, the cylinder peak pressure value increases and the heat release rate and ignition delay period decreases. In performance characteristics, brake-specific fuel consumption increases while brake-specific energy consumption, brake power, and torque decrease. WCO biodiesel cuts down the emissions value by 85% due to decreased hydrocarbon, SO₂, CO, and smoke emissions in the exhaust that will effectively save the environment. However, CO₂ and NO_x generally increase when compared to diesel. The overall economic impact of production on the utilization of this resource is also elaborated. The results show that the use of WCO biodiesel is technically, economically, environmentally, and tribologically appropriate for any diesel engine.