GANESH IYER, JYOTI NIMJE AND R.P SINGH KUSHWAH
Abstract
Rapid urbanization and industrialization have led to a significant increase in solid waste generation, posing substantial environmental and health challenges. Municipal solid waste (MSW), especially food waste, contributes significantly to this issue, requiring innovative solutions for effective management. This study investigates the possibility of converting food waste into biodiesel, providing a dual benefit of waste reduction and renewable energy production. Food waste samples were collected from a residential area in Thane, India and were tested with different drying methods to improve moisture removal. The most effective method was oven drying at 105 °C, resulting in the highest lipid extraction efficiency. Two methods for lipid extraction were used: the Soxhlet apparatus and a sequential liquid-liquid extraction method with methanol and a methanol-chloroform mixture as solvents. After determining the optimal solvent ratio and extraction time to be 2:1 (solvent to food waste) and 60 minutes, respectively, the maximum lipid yield achieved was 37.3%. The extracted lipids were analyzed using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS), identifying critical fatty acids such as caproic, lauric, myristic, palmitic, stearic, and oleic acids, indicating their suitability for biodiesel production. Biodiesel was synthesized via acid-catalyzed transesterification and purification through wet washing to remove impurities. The final biodiesel product was characterised using a Gas Chromatography-Flame Ionization Detector (GC-FID) and met international standards for biodiesel quality. This research demonstrates that food waste, a readily available and often discarded resource, can be effectively converted into high-value biodiesel. The process addresses waste disposal issues and contributes to generating renewable energy, thereby offering a sustainable solution to the intertwined problems of waste management and fossil fuel dependency. Future research should focus on scaling up the process and exploring the economic viability of commercial biodiesel production from food waste.