Evaluation of biodiesel potential of sewage sludge

The energy storing potential of sewage sludge of a waste water treatment facility called Sewage Treatment Oxidation Pond (STOP) was explored in this study with a view to assessing its potential in biodiesel development. Lipids of dried sewage sludge were leached out using a soxhlet extraction technique and the extracted lipids were converted into biodiesel (fatty acid methyl esters) via acid catalysis transesterification. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis was employed for the identification and quantification of resulting FAME while Biodiesel Analyzer© Version 1.1 was used to predict the properties of the biodiesel. High lipid yield of 77.26% was obtained from this study and almost all the biodiesel properties considered conformed to global specifications. It was concluded that the sewage sludge could serve as an alternative and a cheap feedstock for biodiesel development. Copyright © 2018 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.