Supercritical Ethanol Technology For The Production Of Biodiesel From Palm Oil And Jatropha Oil
Loading...
Date
2009-11
Authors
Gui Meei, Mei
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Abstract
Palm oil; which is available throughout Malaysia is a potential oil feedstock for the production of biodiesel in this region. Jatropha (Jatropha curcas) oil, on the other hand, is believed to be another potential oil source for biodiesel production due to its non-edible nature and high suitability to tropical climate in Malaysia. Therefore, production of biodiesel from palm oil and jatropha oil was studied in the present research work via non-catalytic transesterification in supercritical ethanol technology. Initially, palm oil and jatropha oil were characterized for their physical, chemical and thermal properties. Subsequently, both oils were transesterified to biodiesel using a batch type reactor system. The transesterification process was carried out by varying the following process parameters: reaction time, 2 – 30 min; reaction temperature, 300 – 400 oC; and molar ratio of ethanol to oil, 5 – 50. Design of experiment (DOE) coupled with Response Surface Methodology (RSM) and Central Composite Design (CCD) was used to investigate the relationship between yield of biodiesel with the process parameters studied, which was then used for optimization studies. The optimum palm biodiesel yield of 79 wt % was obtained at reaction temperature 350oC with molar ratio of ethanol to oil of 33 and 29 min reaction time. On the other hand, the optimum yield of biodiesel from jatropha oil (74 wt %) was obtained at lower reaction temperature (300oC) but with similar molar ratio of ethanol to oil (ratio of 28) and reaction time (30 min). The difference in optimum yield of biodiesel and optimum reaction conditions was due to different free fatty acid (FFA) content and composition of both oils. Nevertheless, it was found that non-catalytic transesterification reaction using supercritical ethanol technology was superior than conventional catalytic reaction with higher tolerance to water and FFA contents. Water content in ethanol and FFA content in oil was found to have no significant effect on the yield of biodiesel. Characterization of both palm and jatropha biodiesel shows that this technology is feasible to produce biodiesel that can meet international biodiesel standards. The kinetics of transesterification of palm oil using supercritical ethanol technology was also studied and the activation energy of 8.23 KJ/mol was obtained; which was lower than conventional transesterification process.
Description
Keywords
Supercritical Ethanol Technology , The Production Of Biodiesel From Palm Oil And Jatropha Oil