Waterless purification using oil palm biomass-derived bioadsorbent improved the quality of biodiesel from waste cooking oil

Abstract

The utilization of adsorbents produced from biomass for tertiary treatment of industrial wastes has gained much interest compared to the conventional methods such as flocculation and coagulation. In the present study, a bioadsorbent produced from pressed-shredded oil palm empty fruit bunch was used to remove impurities from crude biodiesel derived from waste cooking oil. The purification process was performed using 1 to 5 wt% bioadsorbent loadings under continuous stirring at 500 rpm for 1 h. After purification using 5 wt% of bioadsorbent loading, 89.7% of residual methanol, 81.7% of water, 36.7% of free fatty acid and 98.6% of potassium were successfully removed. This met the European Biodiesel Standard (EN14214). In comparison to commercial adsorbents and the water washing method, purification using the oil palm empty fruit bunch derived bioadsorbent resulted in higher removal of free fatty acids, potassium, water impurities and a smaller loss of fatty acid methyl esters. It was found that the use of the bioadsorbent improved the biodiesel quality besides its benefits of ease of operations and avoidance of waste water production.

Oil Palm Biomass Biorefinery for Sustainable Production of Renewable Materials

“…The activated carbon was successfully applied for biologically treated POME by reducing around 23% of COD and 88% of suspended solid. In a study by Ahmad Farid et al, activated carbon‐derived OPEFB was produced via a two‐step process that began with carbonization and was followed by KOH activation under a continuous flow of N 2 at 700 °C. As a result, the highest specific surface area of 694.2 m 2 g −1 was obtained.…”

Membranska filtracija kao ekološki prihvatljiva metoda pročišćavanja sirovog biodizela

“…On the other hand, bubble-washing is highly recommended and can be easily implemented to the existing technology by aeration from the bottom of washing vessel. 22 Abbaszadeh et al 21 investigated the influence of water type (tapped, distilled, and water with 3 % phosphoric acid), water to biodiesel ratio (0.5, 1, 1.5 v/v), and temperatures (30,45, and 60 °C) on biodiesel purification. They applied bubble-washing technique.…”

“…In order to reduce the costs, as well as to be more environmentally friendly, natural adsorbents, like agro-industrial waste and/ or waste/by-products from food industry, can be used. [27][28][29][30][31] Despite all the good results, the main disadvantages of dry washing processes for crude biodiesel purification are related to the commercial adsorbents price and their reuse and disposal. 29 On the other hand, the great advantage is the use of natural adsorbents (waste/by-products from food industry and/or agro-industrial waste), while good results have already been achieved as reported previously.…”

Judicious Recycling of Biobased Adsorbents for Biodiesel Purification: A Critical Review

“…Several researchers have shown increased interest in the use of activated carbons in the dry washing method of biodiesel purification. Farid et al [49] worked to improve the biodiesel quality produced from waste cooking oil using palm-derived biosorbent. They produced biosorbent by a two-step process, beginning with carbonization in a furnace and then by activation (700 C for 2 h) and neutralization (0.1 M HCl).…”