Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Waste and Biomass Valorization (2021) 12:735–744 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-020-00995-6 ORIGINAL PAPER Glycerolysis of Palm Fatty Acid Distillate (PFAD) as Biodiesel Feedstock Using Heterogeneous Catalyst Nur Azreena Idris 1  · Harrison Lik Nang Lau 1  · Nur Sulihatimarsyila Abd. Wafti 1  · Nabilah Kamaliah Mustafa 1  · Soh Kheang Loh 1 Received: 14 October 2019 / Accepted: 2 March 2020 / Published online: 21 March 2020 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020 Abstract Biodiesel is normally produced through transesterifcation of triglycerides with methanol in the presence of an alkaline cata- lyst. With the uncertain crude oil prices and competition of vegetable oils used for food purposes, alternative feedstock for biodiesel production has to be studied. In this study, palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD), a by-product of the palm oil refnery was used as a feedstock. Glycerolysis reaction was carried out from 160 to 200 °C in the presence of a natural CaO catalyst derived from raw chicken eggshell. The commercial CaO was also evaluated as a control. The results showed that the free fatty acid (FFA) was reduced from 81 to 1.5% using activated eggshell as catalyst at reaction temperature of 180 °C and catalyst dosage of 1.5 wt% while commercial CaO reduced FFA to 3.7% at reaction temperature of 200 °C and 1.5 wt% of catalyst dosage, respectively. The treated PFAD can be used for biodiesel production. Graphic Abstract Keywords Biodiesel · Transesterifcation · Palm fatty acid distillate · Free fatty acids · Glycerolysis · Natural CaO catalyst Statement of Novelty PFAD, a by-product during the refning of crude palm oil is produced estimatedly 820 360 t in Malaysia by 2019. This has proved that it is readily available feedstock for biodiesel * Nur Azreena Idris azreena@mpob.gov.my 1 Engineering and Processing Division, Energy and Environmental Unit, Malaysian Palm Oil Board, No. 6, Persiaran Institusi, Bandar Baru Bangi, 43000 Kajang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia