Australian researchers have developed a powerful, low-cost method for recycling used cooking oil and agricultural waste into biodiesel.
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Making biodiesel from dirty old cooking oil just got way easier

Australian scientists have developed a catalyst enabling used cooking oil and other impure raw materials to be transformed into high-value products like biodiesel.

Researchers at the Australian RMIT University in Melbourne have developed a powerful, low-cost method for recycling used cooking oil and agricultural waste into biodiesel, and turning food scraps and plastic rubbish into high-value products.

The method harnesses a new type of ultra-efficient catalyst that can make low-carbon biodiesel and other valuable complex molecules out of diverse, impure raw materials. Waste cooking oil currently has to go through an energy-intensive cleaning process to be used in biodiesel, because commercial production methods can only handle pure feedstocks with one to two contaminants.

The new catalyst is so tough it can make biodiesel from low-grade ingredients, known as feedstock, containing up to 50 per cent contaminants. It is so efficient it could double the productivity of manufacturing processes for transforming rubbish like food scraps, microplastics and old tyres into high-value chemical precursors used to make anything from medicines and fertilisers to biodegradable packaging.

The catalyst design is reported in a new study from an international collaboration led by RMIT University, published in Nature Catalysis in late October 2020.

Co-lead investigator Professor Adam Lee, RMIT, said that conventional catalyst technologies depended on high-purity feedstocks and required expensive engineering solutions to compensate for their poor efficiency. “The quality of modern life is critically dependent on complex molecules to maintain our health and provide nutritious food, clean water and cheap energy,” Lee said. “These molecules are currently produced through unsustainable chemical processes that pollute the atmosphere, soil and waterways.”

“Our new catalysts can help us get the full value of resources that would ordinarily go to waste – from rancid used cooking oil to rice husks and vegetable peelings – to advance the circular economy. And by radically boosting efficiency, they could help us significantly reduce environmental pollution from chemical manufacturing and bring us closer to the green chemistry revolution,” the scientists anticipated.

Catalyst sponge: advancing green chemistry


To make the new, ultra-efficient catalyst, the team fabricated a micron-sized ceramic sponge (100 times thinner than a human hair) that is highly porous and contains different specialised active components.

Molecules initially enter the sponge through large pores, where they undergo a first chemical reaction, and then pass into smaller pores where they undergo a second reaction.

It is the first time a multi-functional catalyst has been developed that can perform several chemical reactions in sequence within a single catalyst particle, and it could be a game changer for the USD 34 billion global catalyst market.

DIY diesel: supporting distributed biofuel production


The sponge-like catalysts are cheap to manufacture, using no precious metals.
Making low-carbon biodiesel from agricultural waste with these catalysts requires little more than a large container, some gentle heating and stirring.

It is a low-technology, low-cost approach that could advance distributed biofuel production and reduce reliance on fossil fuel-derived diesel, said Co-lead investigator Professor Karen Wilson, also from RMIT.

“This is particularly important in developing countries where diesel is the primary fuel for powering household electricity generators,” Wilson added. “If we could empower farmers to produce biodiesel directly from agricultural waste like rice bran, cashew nut and castor seed shells, on their own land, this would help address the critical issues of energy poverty and carbon emissions.”

While the new catalysts can be used immediately for biodiesel production, with further development they could be easily tailored to produce jet fuel from agricultural and forestry waste, old rubber tyres, and even algae.

The next steps for the RMIT School of Science research team are scaling up the catalyst fabrication from grams to kilograms and adopting 3D printing technologies to accelerate commercialisation.

(RMIT/wi)

Reference:
‘A spatially orthogonal hierarchically porous acid-base catalyst for cascade and antagonistic reactions’, with collaborators from University College London, University of Manchester, University of Western Australia, University of Plymouth, Aston University, Durham University and University of Leeds, is published in Nature Catalysis (DOI: 10.1038/s41929-020-00526-5).

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  • user
    kanchan October 4, 2022 At 7:00 am
    Two years down the line this is so true. We have huge productions of biofuel not just in India but many countries. New ways to production is been implemented to support biofuel demand & supply. Governments of most countries are switching towards biofuel to meet the future requirements of fuel along with conserving the environment. Aris Bioenergy has made the production process in such a commendable manner. They have also made great mechanism to collect & use cooking oils for its production. Let's create change that helps the planet live longer.