MUMBAI, India, April 17 -- Intellectual Property India has published a patent application (202641043400 A) filed by Gubbala Venkata Ramesh; Chaitanya Bharathi Institute Of Technology; and Madhuri Pydimalla, Hyderabad, Telangana, on April 5, for 'agro-waste derived neem leaf ash catalyst for sustainable biodiesel production from non-edible oils.'
Inventor(s) include Madhuri Pydimalla; Gandham Venkat Pavan; Armaan Shaik; M. Mukunda Vani; and Gubbala Venkata Ramesh.
The application for the patent was published on April 17, under issue no. 16/2026.
According to the abstract released by the Intellectual Property India: "The present invention provides a process for the synthesis of biodiesel from non-edible oils of Jatropha curcas and Millettia pinnata using a heterogeneous catalyst prepared from neem (Azadirachta indica) leaf ash as an agro-waste-derived feedstock. The neem leaf ash catalyst is prepared by a sequential process comprising washing, oven-drying at 80 C, grinding to below 100 micrometer particle size, primary calcination in a muffle furnace at 550 C for 4 hours at a heating rate of 5 C per minute, dissolution in distilled water, filtration, evaporation, and secondary re-calcination at 300 C for 2 hours, yielding a catalyst having a porous cauliflower-like morphology with interconnected pores of 50 to 500 nanometres, estimated specific surface area exceeding 100 m2/g, and alkali metal oxide composition comprising K2O, CaO, and MgO as confirmed by XRF. Transesterification of moisture-pretreated non-edible oil feedstock is conducted with methanol at a molar ratio of 12:1 (methanol:oil), with 10 wt% catalyst loading, at 60 C, 180 rpm, and 45 minutes reaction time, yielding biodiesel with FAME purity exceeding 99.9% as confirmed by GC-FID and FTIR analyses, and meeting ASTM D6751 and EN 14214 quality specifications. The glycerol by-product is valorized into soap, implementing a zero-waste circular bioeconomy model. The invention provides an economically viable, environmentally sustainable, food-security-compatible biodiesel synthesis platform."
Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.
