Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GREEN ENERGY
Volume 14, Issue 6, Pages 569-574Publisher
TAYLOR & FRANCIS INC
DOI: 10.1080/15435075.2017.1310107
Keywords
Biodiesel; Eriobotrya japonica; Taguchi method
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Biodiesel is now-a-days recognized as a real potential alternative to petroleum-derived diesel fuel due to its number of desirable characteristics. However, its higher production cost resulting mainly due to use of costly food-grade vegetable oils as raw materials is the major barrier to its economic viability. Present work is an attempt to explore the potential of Eriobotrya japonica seed oil for the synthesis of biodiesel using alkali-catalyzed transesterification. Optimization of production parameters, namely molar ratio of alcohol to oil, amount of catalyst, reaction time and temperature, was carried out using Taguchi method. Fatty acid composition of both oil and biodiesel was determined using GC and H-1 NMR. Alcohol to oil molar ratio of 6: 1, catalyst amount of 1% wt/wt, 2 h reaction time and 50 degrees C reaction temperature were found to be the optimum conditions for obtaining 94.52% biodiesel. Highest % contribution was shown by the 'amount of catalyst' (67.32%) followed by molar ratio of alcohol to oil (25.51%). Major fuel properties of E. japonica methyl esters produced under optimum conditions were found within the specified limits of ASTM D6751 for biodiesel, hence it may be considered a prospective substitute of petro-diesel.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available