Valorization of swine manure biochar as a catalyst for transesterifying waste cooking oil into biodiesel

As demand of proteins from meats has significantly increased with economy growth, the population of livestock proliferates. Thus, heavy amount of livestock byproducts released from livestock industries will become more problematic if they are handled in an unsatisfactory manner. In this study, swine manure (SM) waste was directly valorized to be used as a reaction catalyst for biodiesel production. Pyrolysis was adapted to produce swine manure biochars at 500 (SMB@500) and 650 °C (SMB@650), and the materials were used for conversion of waste cooking oil into biodiesels (i.e., fatty acid methyl esters: FAMEs). The properties of SMBs and resulting pyrolytic gases (i.e., H₂, CO, and C_1-2 hydrocarbons (HCs)) and liquids during pyrolysis were also characterized. SMBs used in this study included a large quantity of metallic contents that significantly contributed to the rapid reaction for biodiesel production. In detail, SMB@500 and SMB@650 showed higher than 96% of FAME yield at 305 and 210 °C of reaction temperature, while non-catalytic reaction using SiO₂ showed similar FAME yield at 330 °C. Thus, this work offers a sustainable way to recycle organic and inorganic materials in livestock manures for energy (biodiesel, pyrolytic oil, H₂, and C_1-2 HCs) production.