Kerala: John Abraham, a veterinarian, gets patent for biodiesel from chicken waste

A veterinary doctor-turned-inventor from Kerala, John Abraham, has finally received the patent right for inventing biodiesel from slaughtered chicken waste. The biodiesel will offer a mileage of over 38 km a litre at around 40% of the current price of diesel and lowers pollution by half. After seven-and-a-half years, the Indian Patent Office finally granted the patent on July 7, 2021, to John Abraham, an associate professor at the veterinary college under the Kerala Veterinary & Animal Sciences University.

Research conducted by John Abraham on biodiesel

During 2009-12, Abraham conducted research on producing biodiesel from chicken waste and dead poultry birds at the Namakkal Veterinary College under the Tamil Nadu Veterinary & Animal Sciences University. Under the guidance of the late Prof Ramesh Saravanakumar, he completed his research on biodiesel. Abraham said that Prof Ramesh had filed for the patent in 2014 on behalf of the university. Unfortunately, the patent got delay as permission from the National Biodiversity Authority was needed because the key raw material going into the patented invention was a biological material locally sourced. After his research, Abraham also received a quality certificate from Bharat Petroleum's Kochi Refinery in April 2015 for inventing biodiesel from chicken waste.

Why Abraham used chicken waste only?

When asked about the use of chicken waste, Abraham replied that birds and pigs have a single stomach which offers higher fat saturation and this is easy to render oil under room temperature. Further, he stated that the chicken waste is much cheaper and easily available and it also increases engine efficiency due to the presence of more oxygen. Now, Abraham along with his three students is also working on the invention of biodiesel from pig waste. In addition, his biodiesel can be blended at a ratio of 80:20 for old diesel engines, while for new CDREi engines, it is the reverse- 20:80.

Abraham and Hindustan Petroleum would also meet the Tamil Nadu veterinary university for the commercialization of this invention. On the commercial production of biodiesel, Abraham said that the 2019 biofuel policy removes licenses for producing and selling such fuels. He answered that business is not his forte but research, however, he would be happy to draw a royalty from the license holder.

Abraham said, "I don't want to leave the job but pursue more research and we (two students from Kerala and a third one coming in from Cameroon) are already into inventing diesel from pig waste. I am ready to sell the patent for a one-time payment or an annual royalty."

(With PTI inputs)

(IMAGE: PIXABAY/PTI)