International Journal of Modern Science and Technology

INDEXED IN 

International Journal of Modern Science and Technology, 1(1), 2016, Pages 23-28. 


Optimization and production of biodiesel from cottonseed oil and neem oil
S. K. Mohan1, T. K. Kannan2
1Department of Chemical Engineering, The Kavery College of Engineering, Mecheri, Tamilnadu, India.
2Department of Mechanical Engineering, The Kavery College of Engineering, Mecheri, Tamilnadu, India.

Abstract
Biodiesel now a days is emerging as an alternative fuel which is a good replacement to the petroleum diesel. Biodiesel is mainly derived from fats and oils by different methods such as dilution, pyrolysis, micro emulsification and transesterification but these days most commercial method used for biodiesel production is transesterification. Among oil resources, cotton seed oil and neem oil were choosen to investigate the transesterification process for conversion to biodiesel (methyl/ethyl ester). This conversion process depends upon a number of process parameters which are required to be optimized in order to maximize biodiesel yield. For neem oil, the optimum parameters were found to be 6:1 of methanol to oil molar ratio, 1.5 wt% catalyst (NaOH), 55°C reaction temperature, 600 rpm stirring rate, 60 min reaction time. For cotton seed oil, the optimum parameters were found to be 6:1 of methanol to oil molar ratio, 2 wt% catalyst (NaOH), 60°C reaction temperature, 600 rpm stirring rate, 90 min reaction time. From the experimental studies, the optimum process conditions for transesterification of cottonseed oil and neem oil have been examined which results in good yield of biodiesel which are the best alternative fuel for petrodiesel.

​Keywords: Biodiesel; Cottonseed oil; Neem oil; Optimization; Transesterification.


References

  1. Anya UA, Chioma NN, and Obinna O. Optimized reduction of free fatty acid content on neem seed oil for biodiesel production, Journal of Basic and Applied Chemistry 2(4) (2012) 21-28.
  2. Akbar E, Yaakob Z, Kamarudin SK, Ismail M and Salimon J. Characteristic and composition of Jatropha curcas oil seed from Malaysia and its potential as biodiesel feedstock, Egypt Society of petroleum Engineers 3 (2009) 45-53.
  3. Khandelwal S and Rita CY. Biodiesel production from non-edible oils: A Review, Journal of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Research 4 (2012) 4219-4230.
  4. Canakci M and Van Gerpen J. Biodiesel production from oils and fats with high free fatty acids, American Society of Agricultural Engineers 44(6) (2001) 1429–1436.
  5. Shruthi H. Heroor and Rahul Bharadwaj SD. Production of Bio-fuel from Crude Neem Oil and its Performance, International Journal of Environmental Engineering and Management 4 (2013) 425-432.
  6. Eevera T, Rajendran K and Saradha S. Biodiesel production process optimization and characterization to assess the suitability of the product for varied environmental conditions, Renewable Energy 34 (2009) 762-765.
  7. Demirbas A. Importance of biodiesel as transportation fuel, Journal of Energy Policy 35 (2007) 4661-4670.
  8.  Neha P,  Chintan B, Pallavi D and Neha T. Use of sunflower and cottonseed oil to prepare biodiesel by catalyst assisted Transesterification, Research Journal of Chemical Sciences 3(3) (2013) 42-47.
  9. Ajaygiri K. Goswami I and Usmani GA. Study of process parameters of biodiesel production from cottonseed oil,  3rd International Conference on Informatics, Environment, Energy and Applications, IPCBEE 66 (2014), 316-318.
  10. Mathiyazhagan V, Ganapathi A, Jaganath B, Renganayaki N and Sasireka N. Production of biodiesel from non-edible plant oils having high FFA content, International Journal of Chemical and Environmental Engineering 2 (2011) 119-122.

ISSN 2456-0235