Biodiesel production, calcium recovery, and adsorbent synthesis using dairy sludge

Dairy sludge (DS) consists of organic compounds such as lipids and valuable inorganic elements. Biodiesel recovery from dairy sludge extract (DSE), using conventional acid (trans)esterification yielded only 16.5 wt%. In contrast, non-catalytic (trans)esterification generated a substantially higher biodiesel yield of approximately 74.0 wt% due to the method's tolerance for impurities. Defatted dairy sludge (DDS) contained a higher Ca concentration than DS. DDS-produced biochar (DDSB) increased its Ca concentration predominantly in the form of CaO. 91.1% of the Ca was recovered from the DDSB containing Ca. The Ca remaining in the biochar residue (DDSBR) after Ca recovery was in the form of CaCO₃. The porous structure developed as the Ca dissolved, implying that DDSBR could be an effective pollutant adsorbent. In this study, a method is proposed to maximize the utilization of DS by producing biodiesel, recovering Ca content, and using it as a pollutant adsorbent.