Effect of Ultrasonication in Lipid Extraction and Production of Biodiesel from Groundnut Shells

Abstract

Agro-industrial wastes are at no cost and contain phenolic content; utilizing them in biodiesel production is a beneficial idea. Biodiesel is a choice of fossil fuels. It can be used in diesel engines alone or blended with diesel. In this study, we have chosen groundnut shells as Agro-industrial waste. Groundnut shells were chopped, dried, and ground into powder, and taken into acid pretreatment. After acid pretreatment, one sample was subjected to Ultrasonication, and then lipid contents were isolated using the modified Bligh and Dyer method. In the transesterification process, the lipids were turned into a product such as esters of fatty acids and glycerol in the presence of catalyst KOH and solvent methanol. The characterization and confirmation of esters of fatty acids were done by Gas chromatography-Mass spectroscopy (GC-MS). This research mainly focuses on studying the effect of Ultrasonication in lipid extraction and encourages biodiesel production from groundnut shells