RAJEEV INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, HASSAN

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

SYNOPSIS ON:
“Biofuel from Jatropha”
SUBMITED BY

V DARSHAN GOWDA
4RA17CV110

UNDER THE GUIDENCE OF

Mrs. MADHU K M
Assistant Professor,
Department of Civil Engineering,
Rajeev Institute of Technology,
Hassan-573201

ABSTRACT
 The world is getting modernized and industrialized day by day. As a
result vehicles and engines are increasing. But energy sources used in these
engines are limited and decreasing gradually. This situation leads to seek an
alternative fuel for diesel engine. Biodiesel is an alternative fuel for diesel
engine.
The esters of vegetable oil and animal fats are known as Biodiesel. In
this paper prospect of making of biodiesel from jatropha oil is discussed.
Jatropha curcas is a renewable non-edible plant. Jatropha is a wildly growing
hardy plant in arid and semi-arid regions of the country on degraded soils
having low fertility and moisture.
The seeds of Jatropha contain 50-60% oil. In this study the oil has been
converted to biodiesel by the well-known transesterification process. Before the
transesterification process was carried out, some basic tests such as free fatty
acid content, iodine value, and moisture content were carried out. This was done
so as to ascertain quality yield of the biodiesel after the reaction and used it to
diesel engine for performance evaluation
It has a higher molecular weight, viscosity, density, and flash point than
diesel fuel. Jatropha oil can also be used directly by blending with diesel and
domestic purposes like cooking, lighting etc and it reduces the greenhouse
gases.
Biofuel is thus considered an important component of the global strategy
to reduce green house gas emission, improve air quality and to increase energy
security by providing an alternative to fossil fuels.