Euonymus maackii Rupr. Seed oil as a new potential non-edible feedstock for biodiesel

In this study, Euonymus maackii Seed oil (EMSO) was exploited and evaluated for the first time as a new non-edible oil feedstock for preparation of biodiesel. The EMSO yield was 41.06 +/- 2.68 wt%. The fatty acid compositions of EMSO involved palmitoleic acid (2.01%), palmitic acid (14.5%), stearic acid (3.1%), oleic acid (49.8%), linoleic acid (29.3%), 11-Eicosenoic acid (0.1%) and arachidic acid (0.07%). Microwave assisted transesterification with methanol provided a high conversion yield in short duration under low temperature. The 2.0 wt% of catalyst amount, 10:1 of methanol/oil molar ratio, 40 min of reaction time and 60 degrees C of temperature were found to be the optimum process conditions for the maximum biodiesel yield of 94.74 +/- 2.09%. Using pseudo first-order kinetic model, the reaction rate constants were 2.145 x 10(2), 3.550 x 10(2) and 6.447 x 10(2) min(-1) for 40, 50 and 60 degrees C, respectively. The thermodynamic property for biodiesel preparation was determined as activation energy = 47.67 kJ/mol. The fuel properties of the biodiesel product were evaluated and comparable to ASTM D-6751 and EN 14214 standards. Overall, this study revealed and confirmed the potential of Euonymus maackii seed oil as the appropriate alternative feedstock for biodiesel production. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.