A brief study on bio-diesel production using oleaginous hydrophytes and waste cooking oil with physico-chemical characterization

Salvinia Molesta is commonly found aquatic weed (hydrophyte) which is low in lignin and contains high amounts of cellulose and hemicellulose with lipid content on the surface of the leaves to achieve non-wetting phenomenon. The current work looks at assessing the feasibility of an aquatic plant Salvinia Molesta in the production of bio-diesel. The study consisted of carrying out the culturing of the plant under different aqueous conditions for maximum yield, extraction of the leaf, petioles, and stalks for lipid extraction followed by the lipid analysis through FFA (Free Fatty Acid). The culturing of the plant provided insights into the space requirement, salinity, and exposure to sunlight. The lipid yield from the dried plant was low and showed an FFA value of 4.2% which necessitated the blending of the lipid extract with waste vegetable oils (Plant lipid content 5%-10% by volume) during the transesterification reaction to yield biodiesel. The thermo-physical characterization of this bio-diesel and benchmarking with High-Speed Diesel has been carried out.