Clean Fuel Production from Waste Date Pits

Synthesizing biodiesel from non-edible feedstocks that do not disturb the food chain is becoming an attractive source of biofuels. Due to excess availability of date pits in GCC countries date pit oil extract can be used as an alternative fuel. This study aimed at biodiesel synthesis from raw date pit oil. The fatty acid profile of the extracted oil showed potential to be transformed into a biodiesel replacement. The date pits oil contain 54.85% unsaturated fatty acids (UFA), whereas the level of saturated fatty acid (SFA) was 45.14%. Transesterification of date pits oil was done at 65 °C, a methanol to oil ratio of 6:1 and a reaction time of 1 hr. Fuel properties of synthesized biodiesel from date pits oil such as cetane number, density, calorific value, flash point were determined and compared with standards ASTM 6751 and EN 14214. The fuel properties of biodiesel obtained compared with standards showed that date pit oil can be a potential alternative for biodiesel production.