(2024) Bioresource Technology_Direct conversion of apricot seeds into biodiesel

Kim M.; Choi D.; Kim J.Y.; Jung S.; Tsang Y.F.; Lin K.-Y.A.; Kwon E.E.

(Elsevier Ltd) Bioresource Technology ISSN: 9608524 Vol.395 Issue. Article No.130339 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2024.130339

Using edible lipids for biodiesel production has been criticized, causing biodiesel production from inedible food resources to be desirable. Lipid extraction must be prioritized to produce biodiesel using an acid/base-catalyzed transesterification process, but this conversion process suffers from technical reliability. Therefore, this study introduced non-catalytic conversion of oil-bearing biomass into biodiesel. Apricot seeds were used as a model compound (oil content 44.3 wt%). The non-catalytic transesterification of apricot seed oil recovered 98.28 wt% biodiesel at 360 °C for 1 min, while alkali-catalysis of apricot seed oil recovered 91.84 wt% at 63 °C for 60 min. The direct conversion of apricot seeds into biodiesel was attempted. The trends in the yields of biodiesel from apricot seeds and seed oil obtained by non-catalytic transesterification as a function of reaction temperature were similar. The yield of biodiesel from apricot seed was 43.06 wt%, suggesting that 97.20 wt% of lipids were converted into biodiesel. © 2024 Elsevier Ltd

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korean government (MSIT) (No. NRF-2023R1A2C3003011 and RS-2023-00219667 ).