Biofuel Production and Characterization from Waste Chicken Skin and Pig Fat

Abstract

The biofuels are the most important alternative energy sources in future to fulfil the energy demands. The team of our students carried out an innovative process to convert waste to value-added products. The students have been visited many meat stalls and gathered the required amount of resources with and without cost. The collected waste chicken skin and pig tallow is heated and extracted fat, which is the primary sources to produce the biofuel. The fat extraction process was carried by shredding down the waste chicken skin and pig tallow. The obtained fat was filtered and heated up to 110ºC to remove all the impurities, water suspensions, blood cells and pieces of bones. The process called transesterification process was carried out to convert obtained fat into biofuel with methyl alcohol and KOH as a catalyst. Transesterification process carted with fat before acid wash and after acid wash to examine the effect of FFA on biofuel yield. The quantity of biofuel yield has been observed to be 62 to 68% for fat from waste chicken skin and 82 to 83 % for fat from pig tallow. The derived fuel from fat from both resources is combined with conventional diesel fuel to check the different properties on a volume basis varied by 10% up to 40%. The essential properties such as viscosity, density, flashpoint, fire point and calorific values were determined, and results show that the fuel combination CB20 and PB20 meets the all requirements of ASTM standards to fix as an additive fuel to CI engines. The clear biofuel from both the fat expressed higher viscosity, density, flash and fire point with a lesser value of energy density.