1.1 Introduction
Biodiesel also referred to as non-petroleum based fuel consists of short chain alkyl (methyl or ethyl) esters, made by transesterification of vegetable or animal fat (tallow), which can be used (blend conventional petrol diesel) in unmodified diesel engine vehicles (Goering et al., 2012). According to Gerpen (2005), biodiesel production is through the chemical reaction of an animal fat or vegetable oil with an alcohol for instance methanol which requires the presence of a catalyst (usually a base) like potassium or sodium hydroxide which in turn produces new chemical compound called methyl esters. Biodiesel could be prepared from varieties of oil from vegetables like canola, corn, cotton seed oil, peanut, safflower, soybean, sun floweroil, palm oil, olive oil, palm kernel oil and coconut oil.
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
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