Esterification of High Free Fatty Acid Jatropha curcas Oil for Biodiesel Production

Maha A. A. Abdelrahman; Atif A. A. Yassin; Ismail Hassan Hussein; Abdallah B. Karama; Mohamed E.S. Mirghani

Maha A. A. Abdelrahman National Oilseed Processing Research Institute (NOPRI), University of Gezira
Atif A. A. Yassin National Oilseed Processing Research Institute (NOPRI), University of Gezira
Ismail Hassan Hussein National Oilseed Processing Research Institute (NOPRI), University of Gezira
Abdallah B. Karama Karary University, Khartoum, Sudan
Mohamed E.S. Mirghani International Islamic University Malaysia, Department of Biotechnology Engineering, Faculty of Engineering

Abstract

This study investigated the esterification of high free fatty acid (FFA) Jatropha curcas (J. curcas) seed oil (6.3 to14.6 %) to produce biodiesel using sulphuric acid with reaction parameters 1% H₂SO₄, 600 rpm at 60 ^oC and one hour reaction time. At methanol to oil ratio 3:1, FFAs were reduced to 4.73% with conversion 45%; at 6:1 methanol to oil ratio, FFAs were reduced to 2.31% with conversion 72%; at 7.5:1 methanol to oil ratio FFAs are decreased to less than 2% with conversion ≥85% and there is no considerable difference when increasing methanol to oil ratio to 9:1. Hence the optimum methanol to oil molar ratio is 7.5:1, moreover, the esterification process is not affected by the initial FFA.