<![CDATA[Used cooking oil is a household and food-industry waste product that still has the potential to be utilized as a raw material for value-added products, one of which is glycerol. This study aimed to utilize used cooking oil to produce glycerol through a transesterification process and to evaluate the characteristics of the resulting product. Crude glycerol was produced using methanol and 1% KOH as a catalyst, followed by a purification process using phosphoric acid (H₃PO₄), distilled water, and activated carbon. The purified glycerol was characterized through organoleptic observation, density and viscosity measurements, and functional group identification using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The results showed that 500 g of used cooking oil produced 70.0664 g of crude glycerol. FTIR analysis indicated the presence of hydroxyl (OH), aliphatic CH, C=O, and C-O functional groups, confirming the presence of glycerol in the purified product. Organoleptically, the resulting glycerol was a clear, yellow liquid with a characteristic odor and demonstrated stability throughout the observation period. The density of the purified glycerol was 1.20645 g/mL, while its viscosity was 1,150 cP. The density value was close to that of pure glycerol, whereas its viscosity was lower than that of commercial glycerol, which was 1,499 cP. Therefore, used cooking oil has the potential to be utilized as a raw material for glycerol production through transesterification and purification processes, while simultaneously increasing the utilization value of waste and reducing its potential environmental impact.]]>
