Sustainable Production of Biodiesel from Tallow, Lard and Poultry Fat and Its Quality Evaluation

This work aims to study the viability of producing biodiesel or fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) from waste animals fats of tallow, lard and poultry fat and to evaluate them according to the quality requirements defined by the European Standard EN 14214 (2003). According, tallow methyl esters (TME), lard methyl esters (LME) and poultry fat methyl esters (PME) were produced and characterized, showing that some quality parameters did not comply with the European standard limits (e.g. acid value, kinematic viscosity, CFPP, and concentration of group I of metals). Thus, blends of B20 (20% biodiesel mixed with petroleum diesel) were made and evaluated for these parameters. Results show that it is viable to produce biodiesel from these feedstocks and their reaction yields may vary from 76.8% to 91.4%, being the lowest value for poultry fat biodiesel. Although results show that it is not possible to use 100% of biodiesel from these animal fats in vehicle engines, blends of 20% biodiesel are viable to be used as fuel with some advantages, such as improved cold-flow properties.