The Production of Biofuels from Coconut Oil Using Microwave

Abstract

Biofuels including biodiesel, an alternative fuel, is renewable, environmentally friendly, non-toxic and low emission energy. The raw material used in this work was coconut oil, which contained saturated fatty acids about 90% with medium chain (C 8 -C 12 ), especially lauric acid and myristic acid. Reaction was conducted in batch reactor assisted by microwave. The purpose of this research was to study the effect of power and NaOH catalyst in transesterification enhanced by microwave and to obtain a biofuels (biodiesel and biokerosene) derived from coconut oil. The reaction was performed by mixing oil and methanol with mole ratio of 1:6, catalyst concentration of 1% w/w with setting electrical power at 100, 264, 400, 600 and 800 W. The reaction time was conditioned at of 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10 and 15 min. The results showed that microwave could accelerate the transesterification process to produce biodiesel using NaOH catalyst. The highest yield of biodiesel was 97.76 %, or 99.05 % conversion at 5 min reaction, meanwhile biokerosene was 48% after distillation.

Production of biodiesel by enzymatic transesterification of non-edible Salvadora persica (Pilu) oil and crude coconut oil in a solvent-free system

“…Besides containing lauric and myristic acid in high quantity, it also consists of caprylic acid and capric acid which are other saturated medium-chain fatty acids. Suryanto et al (2015) obtained lauric acid (41.21%) and myristic acid (23.90%) as the dominant fatty acids in coconut oil. Caprylic and capric acid were the other medium-chain fatty acids that were detected.…”

Pilot scale biodiesel production from refined and waste sunflower oils in microwave assisted reactor

“…Suryanto ve ark. [16] yaptıkları çalışmada, hindistancevizi yağından mikrodalga ışıma ile biyodizel üretimi için optimum reaksiyon koşullarının; 6:1 metanol:yağ oranı, yağın ağırlıkça %1'i kadar NaOH, 100 W mikrodalga çıkış gücü ve 5 dakika reaksiyon süresi olduğunu aktarmışlardır. Benzer birçok çalışmada, mikrodalga teknolojisi kullanılarak gerçekleştirilen bazik transesterifikasyon reaksiyonlar ile konvansiyonel metotlara göre çok kısa sürelerde ve yüksek verimde biyodizel üretilebildiği belirtilmektedir.…”

Optimization of coconut oil ethyl esters reaction variables and prediction model of its blends with diesel fuel for density and kinematic viscosity

“…[9] Coconut oil has been preferred to other vegetable oils for biodiesel production as the biofuel from the latter can be employed as kerosene and jet fuel. [10] In this regard, coconut oil has surfaced as a realistic feedstock for biodiesel development.…”