OIL AND FAT PROCESS TECHNOLOGY

(CPB 30303)

MINI PROJECT

USED COOKING OIL CANDLE

SUBMITTED BY:

MOHAMAD ASHAZIQ BIN ABU BAKAR

(55201210121)

AZLAN BUN MUSTAPA

(55201210019)

AHMAD HAZWAN BIN MOHD ISA

(55201210062)

FATIN ATIQAH BT ABDUL GHANI

(55201210177)

SHERLYNNA PARVEEN ANAK DESHON KAMAN

(55201210077)

AFZAL BIN ZAINUL ABIDIN

(55201210397)

SUBMITTED TO:

MR. AZRIN ABDUL RAHMAN

COURSE:

BACHELOR OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING TECH. (PROCESS) - 5 BCP A

DATE:

02 NOVEMBER 2012

INTRODUCTION

Cooking oil is defined as any of numerous vegetable oils used in cooking. Vegetable

oil includes any group of liquid edible fats that are obtained from plants. Waste cooking oils

which are also known as used cooking oils (UCO) are resulted from the cooking of food by

home cookers, food manufacturers and catering establishments such as restaurants and

industrial kitchens. As oil have a density which is less than water, it has the ability to spread

into thin and broad membranes which can slower down the oxygenation process of water. By

this way, the presence of oil even in a small volume can contaminate a great amount of water.

After cooking, usually UCO is thrown into sinks, drains, onto the ground and also

onto the garbage for disposal. These are not proper ways in disposing the UCO as it would

arise many problems consequently. UCO might solidify into thick layers inside drain pipes

and sewers which will cause blockage and constrict the water flow. Furthermore, clogged

pipes/sewers lead to foul-smelling odours and rats, which will also leads to a dirty

environment. Contaminated water caused by UCO will also affect the life of underwater flora

and fauna.

There are a few proper ways to dispose UCO. The basic step is to put UCO in a sealed

and non-recyclable container and discard it with regular garbage. Besides than, refrigerating

the UCO in container to harden is also makes disposal easier and less messy. But in our

project, we have reused the UCO for another objective. We decided to produce candles by

using UCO.

Today, candles are made not only for lighting purposes but for many other uses such

as home décor, novelty collections, as fixtures for big occasions (weddings and baptismal),

and as scented varieties for aromatherapy. Candles can be made out from different types of

waxes and oils, including the UCO. Oil candles are alternatives of wax candles. Both types

use a fuel source and a wick but instead of melting wax and burning the wick, oil candles use

the wick as a conductor, burning the oil only. A quality oil candle has advantages over a wax

candle in terms of safety and economy. An oil candle gives out less soot compared to wax

candle. Overall, an oil candle is much safer to be used instead of a wax candle.

METHODOLOGY

Material:

I. 100mL used cooking oil

II. 50g paraffin wax

III. Beaker

IV. Freezer

V. Laboratory water bath

VI. Tea filter

VII. Used transparent plastic cup

VIII. Wick

Methods:

1. The used oil filtered by using tea filter.

2. The 50g of wax was prepared.

3. Then, the 100g of used oil was weight and prepared.

4. The solid 50g of wax was melted using the laboratory water bath.

5. After that, mixed the melted wax and used oil together. Put it into plastic cup.

6. The wick was inserted into the mixture and the mixture is air-dried in room

temperature.

7. The mixture saved into the freezer to cool it down about 10°C - 5°C.

Figure 1: Flowchart of Producing Used Cooking Oil Candle

1. The used cooking oil was filtered with tea filter (Appendix 1.1)

2. 50g of wax was prepared

(Appendix 1.3)

3. 100g of used cooking oil was

weighed (Appendix 1.4)

4. The solid 50 g was melted using water bath (Appendix 1.5)

5. Mixed the melted wax with the used oil. Put the mixture inside

plastic cup

6. The wick was inserted into the mixture and the

mixture is air-dried. (Appendix 1.6)

7. The mixture was kept into the freezer.

(Appendix 1.7)

MASS BALANCE

Overall mass balance

INPUT = OUTPUT

Figure 2: Flow diagram production of candle by waste cooking oil

Feed 1+ Feed 2 = Product

50.162g (paraffin wax) + 100.780g (used cooking oil) = 150.942g (candle)

Description:

This chapter discusses on the mass balances involved during the production of candle.

The main target of this process is to recycle used cooking oil to become a candle. Basically,

this method of producing candle uses paraffin wax and used cooking oil as in the feed stock.

This process was carried out in a non-continuous process; the feed stock of cooking oil is first

filtered to remove the impurities. The filtered used cooking oil weighing 100.780g and the

paraffin wax is 50.162g were placed in separate beaker before the process was taken place.

Firstly the paraffin wax is heated to get into liquid form and then the oil is poured into the

liquid. The solution is stirred until homogenous around 80°C-90°C. The solution of paraffin

wax and the used oil is then undergoing freezing process in the freezer.

DISCUSSION

Cooking oil consists of glycerol esters of fatty acids. As the name

mentioned, cooking oil is used as cooking medium whether it is to fry, to

roast, to bake or any other cooking method that involve cooking oil. In

normal practice, whether at home or at restaurant, the cooking oil will be

reused more than one time.

The range of temperature for frying the oil is usually around 170°C

to 220°C. During the heating of the oil in the presence of oxygen (air),

some chemical reactions occur such as hydrolysis, oxidation and

polymerization. This shows there are some changes in character of the oil

where its viscosity increases, its color tend to become darker and lead to

rancidity.

Rancidity is defined as the decomposition of fats, oils and other

lipids through oxidation. This oxidation of fats destabilizes the molecule as

an oxygen ion is replacing a hydrogen ion in the fatty acid molecule. These

chemical reactions cause highly reactive molecules in rancid food which

destroy nutrients in the food. In addition to having strange flavors and

odours, rancid oil may contain possibly carcinogenic free radicals.

Therefore, usually the cooking oil will only be reused 2-3 times.

Based on the density, cooking oil has the density of around 0.915-

0.928 g/cm3 (Hodgman, 1924) and water of 1.0 g/cm3. Cooking oil is much

lighter than water and tends to spread on top of water thus hinder the

oxygenation of water. Thus, if the used cooking oil is not properly

disposed, it can contaminate the water and can congeal on pipes causing

blockages. Therefore, rather than improper way of disposing the used

cooking oil, it is preferable that the used cooking oil be recycle to produce

useful product.

The idea of creating reusable item from the used cooking oil was

established, thus candle made up of used cooking oil was created. The

first proposal in creating the candle was to produce a oil candle just from

the used cooking oil and a wick. The problems with the idea was the

storage of the candle as it still remains liquid after being used and may

cause spillage of the oil. So, new idea was proposed where the candle

solidified after the fire is put out. To meet this demand, paraffin wax was

added to replicate the paraffin wax characteristic of being solidified after

being cool down in room temperature.

By referring to experiment done by Gladys(2009), she set up a few

trial of different percentage of composition of paraffin wax and used

cooking oil. From the experiment done, it can be concluded that the more

the composition of used cooking oil in the candle, the brighter the candle

glow. And the more the used cooking oil use, the longer is the candle’s

lifespan.

CONCLUSION

It can be concluded that the objectives of the experiment was

achieved. As been assigned, the experiment done must meet the theme

which is ‘Go Green’. It refers to how we can preserve good and healthy

environment by recycling the used cooking oil into something new and

useful. So, we create candles by using the used cooking oil. This can

reduce the contamination because of cooking oil waste that being dumped

anywhere after being used. Even though the first trial of using used

cooking oil and wick was failed, but the second trial shows a satisfying

result which was paraffin wax was used into the formula. It gives the

candle a hard composition of a solid, hard enough for being a candle. This

experiment has succeeded in implementing ‘Go Green’ theme which is to

preserve a good and healthy environment.

APPENDICES

Appendix 1.1 Appendix 1.2

Appendix 1.3 Appendix 1.4

Appendix 1.5 Appendix 1.6

Appendix 1.7