The production of biodiesel using residual oil from palm oil mill effluent and crude lipase from oil palm fruit as an alternative substrate and catalyst

- High biodiesel was obtained from POME oil and crude lipase under optimal conditions.
- The properties of POME biodiesel are acceptable, according to ASTM standards.
- The production of biodiesel can be done at a low investment cost.

Biodiesel production using residual oil from palm oil mill effluent (POME) and crude lipase from oil palm fruit as the substrate and catalyst had a high biodiesel yield (92.07 ± 1.04%) under optimal conditions. POME is considered as an alternative source for oil because it contained high oil and grease content (5569.82 mg/L). Oil was extracted from POME by the soxhlet method using a mixture of hexane, methanol and acetone. Eighty percent of residual oil (4455 mg/L) was recovered from POME. Biodiesel production from crude lipase catalyst is an alternative method that is simple to perform and can be done at a low investment cost. In addition, biodiesel from residual oil using crude lipase catalyst was characterized according to ASTM standards. Most properties of biodiesel from crude lipase are acceptable, according to Thai biodiesel and ASTM standards. Low free fatty acid (0.07%) content was observed in enzymatic biodiesel. A high cloud point (10-13 °C) and cetane number (59.0-60.0) were also illustrated since a high cetane number is an important property used to qualify high quality biodiesel, POME biodiesel may possibly be used as a sole biofuel or blended with fossil fuels.