Rice Husk Ash: A Promising Alternative

The reuse of rice husk ash (RHA) as catalyst support or as frying oil clarifier, which results in the reduction of the acidity, is a viable and cost effective alternative for obtaining biodiesel product. Under other circumstances, rice husk ash would be discarded. As a support, after acid leach and calcination, rice husk ash can be compared with the commercial silica (DEGUSSA), which is commonly used in catalysis. In residual frying oil clarification, there is a high adsorption and high clarification to produce biodiesel in transesterification. Studies also suggest that the use of the rice husk ash pretreated by acid leach to clarify the residual frying oil shows promising uses for the decreased amount of free fatty acids in these oils.