PRODUCTION OF BIODIESEL FROM VEGETABLE OIL

MARIA RACHEL



PROJECT GUIDE DR. BENNY JACOB
BIODIESEL
It is a vegetable oil - or animal fat-based diesel fuel consisting of long
chain alkyl (methyl, ethyl, or propyl) esters
Made by chemically reacting lipids (e.g., vegetable oil, animal fat) with
an alcohol, producing fatty acid esters
Made from a renewable energy source
Less polluting
Low carbon alternative to heating oil
Gives better lubricity
More complete combustion

SCOPE OF PRESENT WORK
The world is facing severe fossil fuel crisis due to increased transportation and deficient
energy production processes
Hence, focus is on alternative sources of fuel such as biodiesel
There is ongoing research into finding more suitable crops for biodiesel production and
improving oil yield
A high proportion of free fatty acids in oil promotes corrosion and, together with the catalyst,
leads to soap formation. Soap prevents the proper separation of biodiesel from glycerin
Several studies were performed for the reduction of FFA in other oils by using acid catalysts
(Zheng et al., 2006, Ramadhas et al., 2005, Marchetti et al., 2007 and Ozbay et al., 2008)
The main goal of this study is to reduce the acid value of neem oil using a suitable catalyst
and produce biodiesel.



REFERENCES
Atul Dhar, Roblet Kevin, Avinash Kumar Agarwal, Production of biodiesel from high-FFA neem oil
and its performance, emission and combustion characterization in a single cylinder DICI engine,
Fuel Processing Technology 97 (2012) 118129

Vasanthakumar SathyaSelvabala, Thiruvengadaravi Kadathur Varathachary, Dinesh Kirupha Selvaraj,
Vijayalakshmi Ponnusamy, Sivanesan Subramanian, Removal of free fatty acid in Azadirachta indica
(Neem) seed oil using phosphoric acid modified mordenite for biodiesel production, Bio resource
Technology Volume 101, Issue 15, August 2010, Pages 58975902

S. Zheng, M. Kates, M.A. Dude, D.D. McLean, Acid catalysed production of biodiesel from
waste frying oil Biomass and Bioenergy, 30 (2006), pp. 267272

J.M. Marchetti, V.U. Miguel, A.F. Errazu, Heterogeneous esterification of oil with high amount of
free fatty acids, Fuel, 86 (2007), pp. 906910

N. Ozbay, N. Oktar, N. Alper Tapan, Esterification of free fatty acids in waste cooking oils
(WCO): role of ionexchange resins, Fuel, 87 (2008), pp. 17891798