Conversion of solid organic wastes into oil via Boettcherisca peregrine (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) larvae and optimization of parameters for biodiesel production

PLoS One. 2012;7(9):e45940. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0045940. Epub 2012 Sep 24.

Abstract

The feedstocks for biodiesel production are predominantly from edible oils and the high cost of the feedstocks prevents its large scale application. In this study, we evaluated the oil extracted from Boettcherisca peregrine larvae (BPL) grown on solid organic wastes for biodiesel production. The oil contents detected in the BPL converted from swine manure, fermentation residue and the degreased food waste, were 21.7%, 19.5% and 31.1%, respectively. The acid value of the oil is 19.02 mg KOH/g requiring a two-step transesterification process. The optimized process of 12∶1 methanol/oil (mol/mol) with 1.5% H(2)SO(4) reacted at 70°C for 120 min resulted in a 90.8% conversion rate of free fatty acid (FFA) by esterification, and a 92.3% conversion rate of triglycerides into esters by alkaline transesterification. Properties of the BPL oil-based biodiesel are within the specifications of ASTM D6751, suggesting that the solid organic waste-grown BPL could be a feasible non-food feedstock for biodiesel production.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Biofuels / analysis*
  • Esterification
  • Fatty Acids, Nonesterified / metabolism
  • Larva / metabolism
  • Oils / analysis
  • Oils / metabolism*
  • Sarcophagidae / metabolism*
  • Solid Waste / analysis*
  • Triglycerides / metabolism

Substances

  • Biofuels
  • Fatty Acids, Nonesterified
  • Oils
  • Solid Waste
  • Triglycerides

Grants and funding

This study was supported by grants from the open project of State Key Laboratory of Huazhong Agricultural University (ALM0810), the China National Natural Sciences Foundation (u1170303), and the Genetically Modified Organisms Breeding Major Projects of China (2011ZX08001-001). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.