Assessment of green biodiesel production based on Egyptian waste cooking oil using different porous membranes

Abstract

In this study, green biodiesel was produced from Egyptian waste cooking oil by trans-esterification reaction using membrane technology. The produced biodiesel was characterized by physicochemical properties, FTIR, and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). It was found that it meets the specifications of the American standard test method (ASTM) D6751. Because glycerol was the only impurity that was difficult to separate from the prepared biodiesel by regular methods, polysulfone (PS) membrane and three hybrid membranes were prepared using the phase inversion method for the glycerol purification process. The hybrid membranes were prepared by mixing PS with different weight ratios of polyethylene glycol (PEG), polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP), and zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs). The structure and surface morphology of the resulted membranes were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The purification efficiency of these membranes was satisfied by highperformance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and weight loss ratio. The HPLC chromatogram showed that the membrane of the PS/ZnO NPs provided the highest separation rate of the biodiesel by-product glycerol compared to the other ones.