Blend Characteristics of Biodiesel Obtained from Four Virgin Tropical Seed Oils

Abstract

Four feedstocks comprising two non-edible oils (Telfairia occidentals Hook F, (TVO) and Hura crepitians L (HVO)) and two edible oils Cucumeropsis manii Naud (CSVO) and Canarium schweinfurthii Engl. (CVO) were studied for production of methyl esters (biodiesel). Base catalysis was used for the transesterification reaction with methanol at different oil/alcohol molar ratios (4:1, 6:1 and 9:1). Two catalyst types; KOH and NaOH were used. Reaction times of 5 and 30 mins; temperatures of 38 and 55 o C and a constant catalyst concentration of 1% wt/wt were employed. These process variables were used to achieve optimum biodiesel yields of 97%, (TVO and HVO); 94% and 96% (CSVO) and (CVO) respectively. Their viscosities ranged from 3.60-4.80 mm 2 /s and specific gravities from 0.87-0.88g/cm 3 . The specific gravities and viscosities of the blended biodiesel; B5, B10, B15 ranged from 0.960-0.930g/cm 3 and B20, 1.620-1.650 g/cm 3 , the pour points ranged from -18 to -21. Water and sediments for all the blends were ≤0.05.

Utilization and breeding perspective in the egusi gourd Melothria sphaerocarpa (Cogn.) H. Schaef. et S.S. Renner (syn: Cucumeropsis mannii Naudin)

“…Seed oil is used in the preparation of metal soaps of zinc, copper and nickel, and is then introduced in paint formulation to improve the quality of gloss paint. Igbum et al (2013) showed that seed oil could be used for production of methyl esters (biodiesel). The optimum biodiesel yield of white melon seed oil was 96 %, which is not significantly different from seed oils of Telfairia occidentalis Hook f. and Hura crepitians L. (97 %).…”

“…Recently, some investigations reported the industrial uses of the species, particularly in paint and biodiesel production (Essien et al 2012;Igbum et al 2013). Participatory identification of research questions based on farmers' constraints facilitates the adoption of research results.…”

Microbial Biotechnologies to Produce Biodiesel and Biolubricants from Dairy Effluents

“…The CN is correlated directly to chain length and inversely to unsaturation degree [69,71]. High CN values were detected in our assays (about 66) at both temperatures, higher than most vegetable oils [76,77], slightly higher at 30 degrees due to the increased presence of saturated fatty acids. The values of linolenic acid (18:3) were much lower than the EN 14214 limits, very low in both LS30 and LS25, and lower in LS30 than in LS25.…”

“…regulation [52] (EN 14214), confirmed the high quality of our oils for biodiesel and also for biolubricant production. The degree of unsaturation (DU) was low in both LS30 and LS25, lower than values usually reported for vegetable oils [74,76,77,86,87] and also for other SCOs [50,88,89]. This means that these oils are more stable to oxidation.…”

“…So, the SCO composition reached in our assays can be considered highly suitable for this use. The fatty acid profile detected in both LS25 and LS30 was similar to that previously reported for L. starkeyi [11,28,33,44,57,62,70], with oleic acid (C18:1) and palmitic acid (C16:0) as the main fatty acids, followed by stearic (C18:0), linoleic (C18:2), and palmitoleic (C16:1) acids; linolenic acid (C18:3), whose role in biofuel quality is considered highly negative [71], was present in a very small amount and much lower than in vegetable oils [72][73][74][75][76][77]. Oils high in MUFAs (monounsaturated fatty acids) are preferred for biodiesel production because they ensure good cold flow properties, do not have a significantly negative impact on oxidative stability, and decrease NOx emissions [31].…”