Abstract— Because of biodegradability and non-toxicity biodiesel has become more attractive as alternative fuel. Biodiesel is produced mainly from vegetable oils by transesterification of triacylglycerols. From economic and social reasons, edible oils should be replaced by lower-cost and reliable feed stocks for biodiesel production such as non-edible plant oils. Biodiesel is considered an alternate and renewable substitute for petro-diesel. Pure vegetable oils and animal fats are being widely used for biodiesel production which is resulting in increased food cost and thus causing economic imbalance. In this research, inedible oils e.g. Jatropha oil is investigated for biodiesel production through transesterification process by using CaO-Al2O3 nanocatalyst, synthesized via top down technique. The synthesized nanoparticles were then characterized by XRD. The average crystallite size determined by XRD analysis was 29.9nm.It was calculated by using the Scherrer equation. These nanoparticles were tested to be used as a nanocatalyst for the production of biodiesel from Jatropha curcas oil. The fatty acid content of the oil and the biodiesel was analyzed using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS). Propanoic acid (C5H10O3) was observed to be the most abundant compound present in methyl esters. Methanol to oil molar ratio of 3:1 and 5:1 were investigated for optimization process. The optimization results for production of biodiesel from the transesterification of Jatropha curcas oil catalyzed by CaO-Al2O3 nanoparticles showed maximum yield i.e. 82.3% at 5:1 methanol to oil molar ratio.
Keywords— Jatropha curcas oil, CaO Nanoparticles, Al2O3 Nanoparticles, biodiesel, Transesterification.
Click here to Download Full Paper
AD Publications is a rapidly growing academic publisher in the fields of Engineering, Medical-Health, Environmental Science and Agriculture Research. AD Publications is a registered organization broad-based open access and publishes most exciting researches with respect to the subjects of our journals. The Journals is being indexed and abstracted by all major global current awareness and alerting services.
The organization aims at undertaking, co- coordinating and promoting research and development. It provides professional and academic guidance in the field of basic education, Higher Education as well in the Technical Education. Our Aims is to Promote and support, High Quality basic, Scientific Research and development in fields of Engineering, Medical-Health, Environmental Science and Agriculture Research and to Generate Public awareness, provide advice to scholar’s researchers and communicate research outcomes.
Some Important Links About Research Journal
International Journal
Agriculture Journal
Medical Journal
Environmental Journal
Engineering Journal