REVIEW ON ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT AND VALOURIZATION OF WASTE COOKING OIL

 There is a large volume of waste cooking oil (WCO) in the world, which has made waste management extremely difficult. The main purpose of the large-scale organized collection of WCO is the synthesis of biodiesel. Although alternative applications are equally important and necessitate attention, the majority of studies focus primarily on the synthesis of biodiesel from WCO. The major objective of this review paper is to draw attention to the potential environmental implications of used cooking oil as well as its potential for reuse in products other than biodiesel. It can be transformed into direct-burn energy, biodiesel, hydrogen gas, pyrolytic oil, or hydrogen. Applications like combined heat and power generation (CHP) are where WCO is most useful. Additionally, it can be chemically processed to create biodegradable polyurethane sheets, soaps, alkyd resins, greases, and lubricants. WCO is a carbon source that can be used in fermentation processes to create polyhydroxybutyrate and rhamnolipid biosurfactant after being completely cleaned and sterilized. Therefore, waste cooking oil can be viewed as a waste that can be converted into energy or used as a catalyst for biological or chemical processes