Agronomy and Horticulture, Department of

 

Date of this Version

5-9-2021

Document Type

Article

Comments

Copyright 2021, Zachary Christman. Used by permission

Abstract

Wastewater sludge is an overlooked source of fat, oil, and grease (FOG) that could be converted into biodiesel. The United States produces about 8 million tons of sludge per year. The disposal cost for this amount of sludge is about 2 billion US dollars. The widespread availability and low cost of sludge compared to other biodiesel raw materials make it an economical choice for a renewable fuel. Using sludge as a raw material can produce 25 to 30 mg per gram of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME); the main component of biodiesel. Sludge biodiesel has the potential of transforming a portion of the waste that is normally landfilled, incinerated or anaerobically digested into a high energy liquid fuel.

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