Fats, Oils, and Greases (FOG’s) have served no purpose other than wreaking havoc on plumbing and take up space in landfills in most urban areas. Recently, Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTP’s) have sought out multiple technologies that will reduce their FOG’s; also referred to as Trap Grease (TG) or Sewer Grease (SG). Characterization seasonal variation of FOG’s has continued to be studied in order to determine the concentrations of water, oil, solids, and percent free fatty acids (%FFA). Metal tracing has also been conducted throughout the conversion of yellow grease (YG) to biodiesel to ensure the good quality of the product. Metal tracing will also help determine the ability to use the generated YG for renewable diesel production. Solvent-Free Extractions (SFE) proposes using Waste Cooking Oil (WCO) to extract lipids from WG to produce a feedstock for biodiesel. Because this technology has proven feasible at the lab scale, two bench-scale models were created in order to determine the optimal design of a pilot-scale process. Once the design of the pilot was finalized, equipment was ordered and customized and a location of the pilot-scale process was selected. Data from the pilot-scale process will be used to determine the feasibility of commercialization.
