Abstract
Recently, the interest in converting waste cooking oils (WCOs) to raw materials has grown exponentially. The driving force of such a trend is mainly represented by the increasing number of WCO applications, combined with the definition, in many countries, of new regulations on waste management. From an industrial perspective, the simple chemical composition of WCOs make them suitable as valuable chemical building blocks, in fuel, materials, and lubricant productions. The sustainability of such applications is sprightly related to proper recycling procedures. In this context, the development of new recycling processes, as well as the optimization of the existing ones, represents a priority for applied chemistry, chemical engineering, and material science. With the aim of providing useful updates to the scientific community involved in vegetable oil processing, the current available technologies for WCO recycling are herein reported, described, and discussed. In detail, two main types of WCO treatments will be considered: chemical transformations, to exploit the chemical functional groups present in the waste for the synthesis of added value products, and physical treatments as extraction, filtration, and distillation procedures. The first part, regarding chemical synthesis, will be connected mostly to the production of fuels. The second part, concerning physical treatments, will focus on bio-lubricant production. Moreover, during the description of filtering procedures, a special focus will be given to the development and applicability of new materials and technologies for WCO treatments.
Highlights
Amongst the many issues currently faced by the scientific community, the interest toward the optimization of resources, while reducing the environmental impact of new and existing production processes, are of major interest
Recycling of the catalyst, combined with waste-based raw material, makes this process production of to pentaerythritol fatty esterslubricant (TFATEs) through transesterification of waste cooking oils (WCOs)-derived fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs), with TMP mediated by a catalyst based on a mixture between hydrotalcite and potassium carbonate (K2 CO3 )
The availability of effective tools to optimize the bio-lubricant production by water treatment of WCOs make this last process competitive, with respect to the filtration procedures, which have been historically employed as a main purification step in vegetable oil refining
Summary
Amongst the many issues currently faced by the scientific community, the interest toward the optimization of resources, while reducing the environmental impact of new and existing production processes, are of major interest. To develop such ambitious research, many scientists have explored routes for the employment of waste as raw material in new productions, as well as for the reconversion of existing processes. This is not an easy road, as industry requires to reach such targets in a very short time. The transfer of knowledge is often hampered by the limits of the current available technologies In this context, the development of improved technologies and materials for the transformation of waste-based raw materials into valuable products represents a primary target to unlock many transformations that exist only at design level or laboratory scale [3]. A special focus will be given to the period that ranges from 2015 to early 2020
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