Production of Biodiesel from a mixture of Karanja and Linseed oils: Optimization of process parameters

Abstract

A B S T R A C TKaranja and linseed are the potential non-edible oil crops which can be used for the biodiesel production. The main objective of this study is to find out the feasibility of using a mixture of karanja oil and linseed oil to produce biodiesel. Karanja oil has high amount of free fatty acid in it and linseed oil has low amount of free fatty acid content. Karanja biodiesel is produced by two step esterification/transesterification process which is costly, health hazardous & corrosive due to use of concentrated acids. Linseed biodiesel can be produced by alkali-base transesterfication which is much faster and gives higher yield than acid-base transesterification. A production method is developed to produce biodiesel from the mixture of karanja and linseed oil which is faster, safer and non-corrosive. The yields in the range of 68.2 to 78.9% have been achieved with varying different parameters like molar ratio, stirring time, mixture ratio and amount of catalyst. Optimum parameters are also established to achieve maximum biodiesel yield from the transesterification of a mixture of linseed and karanja oils.

Parameter optimization for enhanced biodiesel yield from Linum usitatissimum oil through solar energy assistance

“…and the density is reduced to 869.8 kg/m 3 , which is under the ASTM standards [1]. In contrast, the kinematic viscosity of LSME is found to be 5.453 × 10 -6 m 2 /s which is twice of diesel (2.815 × 10 -6 m 2 /s) and is close to the upper limit of the ASTM standards [1,13].…”

“…Raw linseed oil is initially heated in a vessel at about 110℃ using a conventional heater for approximately 10 minutes for moisture removal because moisture may lead to the saponi cation process, which eventually reduces the biodiesel yield [13]. The warm raw linseed oil is then allowed to cool down below 65℃ before adding the catalyst-alcohol solution.…”

“…Flash point and pour point of LSME are 162℃ and -11℃, while the cetane index is 42.7, respectively. Hence, it is concluded that the desirable properties of biodiesel are comparable to diesel (under ASTM standards) [1,13]. As a result, a biodiesel blend with diesel could be used in the existing CI engines with no modi cations, or pure biodiesel could directly be used with few modi cations in the CI engine.…”

“…Biodiesel has a very vast history; however, the higher production cost, raw material availability, and lower cost of available conventional crude oil never let it become a potential source to replace diesel [6]. Many researchers have tried different biodiesel extraction techniques to cope with these di culties and worked with various edible and non-edible oils [10][11][12][13]. They also explored other sources for biodiesel production, including waste cooking oil, animal fats, and microalgae [14][15][16].…”