Lipid Extraction for Biodiesel Production from Al-Rumaitha Sewage Project Plant

The samples used in the study were taken from the WWTP (wastewater treatment plant) screening location. Lipids extraction from sewage sludge (a by-product of WWTP) grows in large quantities in cities. The wet sludge was adopted to extract the lipids by direct liquid-liquid extraction at room temperature using a mixture of organic solvents cyclohexane, isopropanol, and water for three extraction stages. The content of lipids was 36.3% wt DC and 34.78% wt DC for the first and second samples, respectively. Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS) analysis determined the content of free fatty acids. FFAs (free fatty acids) content was 58% and 36.6% for the first and second samples, respectively. Oleic acid (C18:1) was the most abundant acid in the two samples, followed by palmitic acid (C16:0) and linoleic acid (C18:2).