Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Direct Liquid–Liquid Lipid Extraction Method for Biodiesel Production from Sewage and Petrochemical Industry Sludges

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Waste and Biomass Valorization Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Municipal wastewater treatment plant sludge (sewage sludge) has gained importance in biodiesel production due to its high lipid content. The oily sludges from petrochemical industry wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have high concentrations of phospholipids, free fatty acids, neutral lipids and can also be used as efficient feedstocks for biodiesel production. Lipid extraction is the first step of biodiesel production from sludges. Standard drying lipid extraction method necessitates expensive sludge dewatering/drying steps, holding almost 50% of overall biodiesel production cost, to remove high water content in sludge. The aim of this study was to explore lipid extraction from municipal and petrochemical industry WWTP sludges by using the novel direct liquid–liquid lipid extraction method, which does not require expensive sludge dewatering/drying steps, and to compare it to standard drying method. The study also investigated the effect of acid pre-treatment on lipid yields of the sludge samples. In both methods, hexane was used as an organic solvent. Acid pre-treatment increased the lipid yields noticeably. The highest lipid yield of 31.2% (dry sludge) was obtained from pre-acidified petrochemical industry WWTP sludge by using liquid–liquid lipid extraction method. Compared to standard drying method, direct liquid–liquid lipid extraction method resulted with 53% higher lipid and 56% higher biodiesel yields for petrochemical industry WWTP sludge sample. However, liquid–liquid lipid extraction method caused to a very slight increase in the biodiesel yield of primary municipal WWTP sludge samples.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Shafiee, S., Topal, E.: When will fossil fuel reserves be diminished? Energy Policy 37, 181–189 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Hongyan, W., Jingmin, L., Qun, Z., Yingji, L.: Resources and development of new energy in China. Acta Pet. Sin. 30(3), 469–474 (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Srivastava, A., Prasad, R.: Triglycerides-based diesel fuels. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 4(2), 111–133 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Olkiewicz, M., Fortuny, A., Stüber, F., Fabregat, A., Font, J., Bengoa, C.: Evaluation of different sludges from WWTP as a potential source for biodiesel production. Proc. Eng. 42, 695–706 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Choi, S.A., Oh, Y.K., Jeong, M.J., Kim, S.W., Lee, J.S., Park, J.Y.: Effects of ionic liquid mixtures on lipid extraction from Chlorella vulgaris. Renew. Energy 65, 169–174 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Mondala, A., Liang, K., Toghiani, H., Hernandez, R., French, T.: Biodiesel production by in situ transesterification of municipal primary and secondary sludge. Bioresour. Technol. 100, 1203–1210 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Pastore, C., Lopez, A., Lotito, V., Mascolo, G.: Biodiesel from dewatered wastewater sludge: a two-step process for a more advantageous production. Chemosphere 92, 667–673 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Revellame, E., Hernandez, R., French, W., Holmes, W., Alley, E.: Biodiesel fromactivated sludge through in situ transesterification. J. Chem. Technol. Biotechnol. 85, 614–620 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Siddiquee, M.N., Rohani, S.: Experimental analysis of lipid extraction and biodiesel production from wastewater sludge. Fuel Process. Technol. 92, 2241–2251 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Kargbo, D.M.: Biodiesel production from municipal sewage sludge. Energy Fuel 24(5), 2791–2794 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Zhu, F., Zhao, L., Zhang, Z., Jiang, H.: Preliminary study at lipids extraction technology from municipal sludge by organic solvent. Proc. Environ. Sci. 16, 352–356 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Bing, L., Qingmei, Y., Hua, Z., Lei, S., Youcai, Z.: Methods of sludge treatment and disposal and resource utilization. Saf. Environ. Eng. 11(4), 52–56 (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Goncalves, R.F., Luduvice, M., Sperling, M.V.: Sludge thickening and dewatering. In: Andreoli, C.V., Sperling, M.V., Fernandes, F. (eds.) Sludge Treatment and Disposal, pp. 76–119. IWA Publishing, London (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Xu, N., Wang, W., Han, P., Lu, X.: Effects of ultrasound on oily sludge deoiling. J. Hazard. Mater. 171, 914–917 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Mazlova, E.A., Meshcheryakov, S.V.: Ecological characteristics of oil sludges. Chem. Technol. Fuels Oils 35, 49–53 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Mulligan, C.N.: Recent advances in the environmental applications of biosurfactants. Curr. Opin. Colloid Interface Sci. 14, 372–378 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Mishra, S., Jyot, J., Kuhad, R.C., Lal, B.: In situ bioremediation potential of an oily sludge-degrading bacterial consortium. Curr. Microbiol. 43, 328–335 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Dufreche, S., Hernandez, R., French, T., Sparks, D., Zappi, M., Alley, E.: Extraction of lipids from municipal wastewater plant microorganisms for production of biodiesel. J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc. 84, 181–187 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Olkiewicz, M., Caporgno, M.P., Fortuny, A., Stüber, F., Fabregat, A., Font, J., Bengoa, C.: Direct liquid–liquid extraction of lipid from municipal sewage sludge for biodiesel production. Fuel Process. Technol. 128, 331–338 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Zhu, F., Zhao, L., Jiang, H., Zhang, Z., Xiong, Y., Qi, J., Wang, J.: Comparison of the lipid content and biodiesel production from municipal sludge using three extraction methods. Energy Fuels 28, 5277–5283 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Mustapha, N.A.H., Hii, W.S., Rahman, R.A., Ngadi, N., Mahmood, I.: Optimization of lipid extraction from primary sludge by Soxhlet extraction. Chem. Eng. Trans. 56, 1321–1326 (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Kech, C., Galloy, A., Frippiat, C., Piel, A., Garot, D.: Optimization of direct liquid-liquid extraction of lipids from wet urban sewage sludge for biodiesel production. Fuel 212, 132–139 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Rice, E.W., Bahd, R.B., Eaton, A.D., Clesceri, L.S.: Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater 22nd, APHA, Washington (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Christie, W.W., Han, X.: Lipid Analysis: Isolation, Separation, Identification and Lipidomic Analysis, 4th edn. The Oily Press, Bridgwater (2010)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  25. Olkiewicz, M., Fortuny, A., Stüber, F., Fabregat, A., Font, J., Bengoa, C.: Effects of pre-treatments on the lipid extraction and biodiesel production from municipal WWTP sludge. Fuel 141, 250–257 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Speight, J.G.: The Chemistry and Technology of Petroleum. 5th edn. CRC Press, Boca Raton (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Olkiewicz, M., Torres, C.M., Jimenez, L., Font, J., Bengoa, C.: Scale-up and economic analysis of biodiesel production from municipal primary sewage sludge. Bioresour. Technol. 214, 122–131 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study has been supported by the Research Fund of Boğaziçi University (Project No. 10580).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Environmental Sciences, Boğaziçi University, Hisar Campus, 34342, Bebek, İstanbul, Turkey

    E. Babayigit, D. Atik Alper & A. Erdincler

Authors
  1. E. Babayigit
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. D. Atik Alper
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. A. Erdincler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to E. Babayigit.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Babayigit, E., Alper, D.A. & Erdincler, A. Direct Liquid–Liquid Lipid Extraction Method for Biodiesel Production from Sewage and Petrochemical Industry Sludges. Waste Biomass Valor 9, 2471–2479 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-018-0345-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-018-0345-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation