Syed Tufail Hussain Shah

National Centre of Excellence in Analytical Chemistry,

University of Sindh, Jamshoro-760, Pakistan

Biodiesel is the best alternate of mineral diesel and is a sustainable energy source.  It has almost similar physicochemical properties to the mineral diesel. The current drift in biodiesel research is to explore the very cheap feedstock for the feasibility point of view. In the present study, biodiesel is prepared from the very cheap feedstock i.e. residual oil extracted from spent bleaching clay (SBC). Initially, the amount of the extracted residual oil was determined then quality was investigated. Later on, a trans-esterification process involving two steps to improve the yield of methyl ester up to 85%. Important fuel parameters were evaluated and found in good agreement with the standards limits of ASTMD 6751. The stability of the prepared biodiesel was also assessed by the rancimat method. The results of the study clearly indicated that prepared biodiesel could be used as biofuel up to 30% with mixing of mineral diesel.