Biodiesel Production from Rubber Seed Oil by Transesterification Using a Co-solvent of Fatty Acid Methyl Esters

Rubber seed oil (RSO) is a high-potential feedstock for the production of biodiesel fuel (BDF) in Asia. Transesterification using fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) as co-solvents was developed for BDF production from RSO with high content of free fatty acids (FFAs). The homogeneous system (FAMEs/triglyceride/methanol) was attained when the FAME content was more than 30wt%. After esterification of RSO, the crude RSO obtained was transesterified with FAMEs as a co-solvent. The quality of BDF with high FAME content satisfied the criteria of the EN 14214/JIS K2390 standards. These results suggest that FAMEs converted from FFAs can be applied as a co-solvent and, thus, reused for BDF production.