A novel design for biodiesel production from methanol + mutton bone fat mixture

Area of Science:

• Green Chemistry
• Renewable Energy Sources

Background:

• Bioenergy is crucial for the green transition.
• Mutton bone fat oil presents a low-cost feedstock option for bioenergy.
• Transesterification is a key process for biodiesel production.

Purpose of the Study:

• To optimize biodiesel production from mutton bone fat oil using methanol.
• To investigate the effects of catalyst concentration and methanol/oil ratio on biodiesel yield.
• To evaluate the potential of membrane technology for improving reaction efficiency.

Main Methods:

• Response surface methodology (RSM) with a five-level, three-factor design.
• Twenty ultrasonic-assisted transesterification experiments (25 kHz frequency).
• Mathematical modeling of reaction kinetics and membrane filtration system.

Main Results:

• An optimal biodiesel yield of 90.087% was achieved using KOH catalyst (2.5 wt%), a 15:1 methanol/oil ratio, and 3 hours reaction time.
• Mutton bone fat oil and methanol were confirmed as suitable feedstocks for biofuel production.
• Mathematical modeling indicated a 6-fold reduction in reaction time (to 30 minutes) with a membrane setup.

Conclusions:

• Optimized transesterification conditions enable high biodiesel yields from mutton bone fat oil.
• Membrane technology offers a significant advantage by drastically reducing reaction times.
• The integration of membrane filtration is highly recommended for efficient biodiesel production from this feedstock.