Conversion of lipid from food waste to biodiesel

Waste Manag. 2015 Jul:41:169-73. doi: 10.1016/j.wasman.2015.03.025. Epub 2015 Apr 3.

Abstract

Depletion of fossil fuels and environmental problems are encouraging research on alternative fuels of renewable sources. Biodiesel is a promising alternative fuel to be used as a substitute to the petroleum based diesel fuels. However, the cost of biodiesel production is high and is attributed mainly to the feedstock used which leads to the investigation of low cost feedstocks that are economically feasible. In this paper, we report on the utilization of lipid obtained from food waste as a low-cost feedstock for biodiesel production. Lipid from food waste was transesterified with methanol using base and lipase as catalysts. The maximum biodiesel yield was 100% for the base (KOH) catalyzed transesterification at 1:10M ratio of lipid to methanol in 2h at 60°C. Novozyme-435 yielded a 90% FAME conversion at 40°C and 1:5 lipid to methanol molar ratio in 24h. Lipid obtained from fungal hydrolysis of food waste is found to be a suitable feedstock for biodiesel production.

Keywords: Base; Biodiesel; Food waste; Hydrolysis; Lipase; Lipid.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Biofuels / analysis*
  • Biofuels / economics
  • Enzymes, Immobilized
  • Esterification
  • Fungal Proteins
  • Garbage*
  • Lipase / metabolism*
  • Lipid Metabolism*
  • Waste Management / economics
  • Waste Management / methods*

Substances

  • Biofuels
  • Enzymes, Immobilized
  • Fungal Proteins
  • Novozyme 435
  • Lipase