Waste to Energy Conversion from Orange Peel: Heterogeneous Catalyst Preparation and Biodiesel Production

Abstract

Renewable energy sources play a significant role in shaping the nation's economy and regulating the reliance on non-renewable sources. Non-renewable energy sources, especially the petrol-diesels, are on the verge of extinction, and utilizing these hydrocarbon fuels increases air pollution. To mitigate the challenge, biodiesel from renewable energy sources is gaining wide attention. In this study, an attempt is made to produce biodiesel from waste orange peel oil via a transesterification process. Furthermore, a heterogeneous catalyst is prepared from the waste orange peel extract by calcination at 6000C for 120 minutes. The obtained orange peel oil biodiesel (OPOBD) from the transesterification process is characterized by saturated and unsaturated fatty acid compounds (FAC) and significant fuel oil properties. The maximum OPOBD yield of 86.76% is achieved, and the yield decreases
with the increase in the catalyst re-usage. The results show that neat biodiesel and diesel-biodiesel blend (B20) fuel oil properties are in close agreement with the ASTM standards, and the FAC results reveal high levels of saturated FAC in OPOBD.