Pyrolysis Process of Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME) Conversion into Biodiesel

Biodiesel is a biomass fuel that can replace petroleum diesel fuel. One of the advantages of biodiesel fuel as renewable energy source that it is more environmentally friendly than fossil fuels because biodiesel significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions compared to fossil fuels. FAME (fatty acid methyl ester) is a derivative product of CPO (crude palm oil) that has been treated both physically and chemically. The main advantage of FAME lies in the low content of impurities, especially sulphure and metal content. FAME comes from vegetable oil raw materials, which contain high enough fatty acids, around 61-62%, and nowadays, it is used as a mixture with petroleum diesel. The characteristics of biodiesel obtained from the conversion of FAME into biodiesel by pyrolysis at a temperature range of 160 – 200 oC indicate that the biodiesel produced is density 0.8475 kg/m3, viscosity 3.053 cSt, calculated cetane index (CCI) 48.5, flash point 59oC, moisture content 223 ppm, and sulphure content of 0.07% m/m. The results obtained are below the maximum limit of the specified biodiesel quality requirements.

Parametric study of glycerol and contaminants removal from biodiesel through solvent-aided crystallization

At present, biodiesel is known as an alternative fuel globally. It is also known that the purification of biodiesel before consumption is mandatory to comply with international standards. Commonly, purification using water washing generates a massive amount of wastewater with a high content of organic compounds that can harm the environment. Therefore, this study applied and tested a waterless method, i.e., the solvent-aided crystallization (SAC), to remove glycerol and other traces of impurities in the crude biodiesel. The parameters of coolant temperature, crystallization time, and stirring rate on the SAC system were investigated. It was discovered that with 14 °C coolant temperature, 300 RPM and higher cooling time result in the highest percentage of FAME up to 99.54%, which indicates that contaminants' presence is limited in the purified biodiesel. The use of 1-butanol as the solvent for crystallization process remarkably enhanced the separation and improved the higher biodiesel quality.

Advancing biodiesel production from microalgae Spirulina sp. by a simultaneous extraction–transesterification process using palm oil as a co-solvent of methanol

Microalgae have been considered as a potential candidate for biodiesel feedstock. Single-stage simultaneous extraction–transesterification process is proposed for simpler and more effective biodiesel conversion. In this study, the experiment of biodiesel production from microalgae Spirulina sp. was performed in a batch-stirred reactor using palm oil as a co-solvent of methanol and catalyzed by potassium hydroxide at a percentage of 1 wt% (w/w of palm oil). The effects of methanol–palm oil molar ratio, palm oil–microalgae weight ratio, and temperature on biodiesel yield were investigated. The results showed that the best biodiesel yield was 85.28% (99.01% of partial biodiesel yield from palm oil and 16.69% of partial biodiesel yield from dry microalgae), obtained at a methanol–palm oil molar ratio of 10:1, a palm oil–microalgae weight ratio of 5:1, and at a temperature of 60°C. Upon comparison, the overall yield increased by 34.59% (37.73% of partial biodiesel yield from palm oil and 13.00% of partial biodiesel yield from dry microalgae) than that of the two-stage (conventional) method. Single-stage simultaneous extraction–transesterification process also reduced the number of unsaturated fatty acid components in biodiesel that will lower the biodiesel quality.