Activated Carbon from Residues of the Wild Mustard Biodiesel Production Process

Vegetable oils and animal fats consist of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. The proportions of these fatty acids can be increased or decreased by mixing the oils in equal amounts to obtain a blend containing different proportions of the fatty acids present in the original oils or fats. This blend was reacted with alcohol in the presence of a basic catalyst to produce biodiesel. A comparison was made between the physical and chemical properties of the oils and the biodiesel prepared from the vegetable oil blend to achieve standard specifications close to those of conventional diesel. A blend of mustard and castor oils was used as the feedstock for fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) production via alkali-catalyzed transesterification with methanol under the optimum reaction conditions of a 1:6 oil-to-methanol molar ratio, a reaction temperature of 60°C, a reaction time of 60 min, and 0.75 wt.% KOH as the catalyst. The solid residue from the mustard seed pressing process was used as a raw material for the production of activated carbon through thermal pyrolysis. It was mixed with mustard plant waste to obtain a raw material for activated carbon preparation by chemical activation using zinc chloride and phosphoric acid as activating agents. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) techniques were employed to identify the functional groups of the lipid components and to verify the formation of biodiesel.