Purification of Jatropha curcas based biodiesel by dry washing, using banana peel and mushroom powder as natural adsorbents

This paper focuses on the two stage synthesis of biodiesel from higher fatty acid Jatropha curcas oil, its purification using organic adsorbents and some natural adsorbents. The purpose of this work is to use banana peel and mushroom (Pleurotus species) as biosorbents and Amberlite BD10 DRY, Purolite PD 206 and Tulsion T-45BD as organic adsorbents for the dry purification of biodiesel. The efficiency of these biosorbents was compared with that of organic adsorbents and the response of each adsorbent was measured through the determination of all the potential impurities present in the biodiesel as per American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and European (EN) standard test method. On comparing the results, natural adsorbents are found to be equally suitable for the removal of contaminants from biodiesel. The adsorbents were also characterized through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) for studying the changes in morphology before and after their use. Analysis of purified biodiesel samples by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) further supported the efficiency of natural adsorbents.