Annona diversifolia seed oil as a promising non-edible feedstock for biodiesel production

In this work, Annona diversifolia seed oil (ADO) is evaluated for the first time as potential biodiesel feedstock. ADO was found to contain 21% oil (w/w) after extraction, and the low acid value of the oil was 0.666 mg KOH/g. Therefore, ADO was considered suitable for alkali-catalyzed transesterification. A. diversifolia biodiesel (ADB) was obtained from ADO by a standard transesterification procedure with methanol, and alkali catalyst. ADO has a high content of oleic acid (70%) and palmitic acid (16%). The fuel properties of the oil and biodiesel made from ADO were evaluated, including density, iodine value, kinematic viscosity, cetane number, flash point, pour point, cloud point, acid value, and gross heating value. The ADB properties were compared with several limits prescribed in the ASTM D6751 standards. The comparison shows that the biodiesel obtained from A. diversifolia oil could be used as an alternative fuel in conventional diesel engines. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.