Nat'l Cheng Kung University to scale up unique biodiesel process

Prof. (Emeritus) Aharon Gedanken from the Department of Chemistry at Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel, recently visited National Cheng Kung University, southern Taiwan, to continue his research in converting waste cooking oils into biodiesel with the research team in NCKU.

“We are converting basically waste cooking oil into biofuel and now we can convert 3 liters per hour,” said Gedanken when briefing his ongoing project to NCKU president Hwung-Hweng Hwung on Sept. 5.

Currently a visiting chair professor at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, NCKU, Gedanken is a pioneer of sonochemistry and an expert in the fabrication of nanostructures.

His team in NCKU has developed a process to convert used cooking oil to biodiesel using microwaves and strontium oxide (SrO) as catalyst.

With the system designed by the team, a machine has been built by a company in Taiwan.

“The machine is made in Taiwan and working very well comparing it with similar ones I have at home,” Gedanken said.

The converting machine has been set up in the department and ready to yield more biofuel in the coming months, according to MSE Distinguished Professor Jiunn-Der Liao who has invited Gedanken to cooperate with NCKU faculty conducting the research.

Prof. Liao said that with Gedanken’s help NCKU is going to set up a converting station at An-nan campus and hopefully will collect more waste cooked oil for the demonstration.

“Prof. Gedanken has been named as one of ISI's Highly Cited Researchers and his study has been cited in more than 14,000 scientific articles,” Liao said. “We're honored to invite him over to conduct the research project as visiting chair professor. Our goal is to introduce the station to companies in Taiwan or abroad which are into the bioenergy business.”

Liao said so far they have received inquiries from Thailand, Malaysia, and at least three domestic enterprises.

The three-year project, supported and conducted by NCKU, started in August 2013 and is now in its second year. NCKU is about to realize the project and conduct the experiment on a larger scale to set up a station.

Editor’s Note: For more information about the NCKU project, click here to read an article published in Biodiesel Magazine last November.