Bitoon Plant (Barringtonia Asiatica) as an

Alternative Raw Material in Biodiesel Production

1. SUMMARY

2. BACKGROUND AND PROBLEM

In the Philippines, there is an expected rise on the demand of energy

from the period of 2010 – 2035 due to the fast-growing economy in the country
(APEC Energy Demand and Outlook, 2013). As energy demand is expected to
increase, the demand of biofuels (shown in Table 1.1) is also expected to
increase due to the plan of the Department of Energy (DOE) to increase the
percentage of biofuel in all vehicle fuels (National Biofuels Plan 2013 – 2030).
In the year 2025, the mandated biodiesel blend is at twenty percent by volume.
This is four times higher than the current mandated blend.

The expected demand of biodiesel is so high that ten more plants with a
capacity of forty-four (44) million liters are needed by the year 2025 just to
meet the demand (National Biofuels Plan 2013). At present, the country is
relying on coconut in producing biodiesel. However, some analysts say that
there is no assurance that it may be able to sustain biodiesel demand in the
next ten years. This is because the price of coconut may vary considerably from
time to time since it is also used for other commodities. Thus, alternative
source is needed for biodiesel production.
Barringtonia asiatica, a species of Barringtonia native to mangrove
habitats on the tropical, is a common plant in the Malaysian Mangroves and
wetlands such as the Kuching wetlands Sarawak and Bako National Park, it is
also found in tropical Africa, Nigeria and Madagascar. This Bitoon Plant can
also be found in tropical rainforest areas, open lowlands and thickets, and
always near water: along river banks and in fresh water swamps, and
occasionally in the less saline areas of mangrove swamps, where it may develop
pneumatophores. (Uhmaro, et. al., 2018)
3. BENEFECIARIES

There is a significant interest in finding for alternative renewable sources

of fuel that are carbon neutral due to the attributed increase of fossil fuel
market demand and its greenhouse gas emissions which mainly contributes to
global warming.
1. The FUEL INDUSTRY. As we are in the period where innovators are
looking for solutions by using alternative materials in producing biofuels
(biodiesel and bioethanol), studies like using biomass material is of great
help not only on dealing the damage done by non-renewable sources like
fossil fuels but also on producing renewable and green energy source.
2. The Local Government Unit. The innovation uses locally found and
abundant material which is at the same time not consume by humans as
food source thus will not have an issue on the supply of the material
during production. The feasibility of using waste or natural materials like
Bitoon plant will create a possible industry of Biodiesel in the community
thus generating work to the locals. Bottomline, LGU will have an
economic stability once the industry is established and well operated.
3. The Research Community. Through this research, scientist and
innovators will have another glimpse of the possible contribution of
adding Bitoon Plant as an alternative material in Biodiesel Production
which could boost the volume and production of Biodiesel Industry.
4. The Philippines and Global Community. Since we are experiencing
severe change in the temperature of our environment, we are very eager
to have alternatives and sustainable solution on these existing emission
of greenhouse gases (GHG) and continuous range of global warming.
Thus, research such as this one would greatly help and benefit not only
our country but also in the global arena. This will help mitigate the
continuous increase of GHGs resulting to the unstoppable negative effect
of global warming.

4. PROPOSED SOLUTION
In the global market, majority of the industries are still using non-
renewable sources of fuel such as fossil fuels. When we say non-renewable, we
are dealing with materials that once used, it can’t be used again or renewed.
Aside from that, the toxic effect it can give to the environment is detrimental.
As we are experiencing global warming and the Earth’s temperature is still
rising, and that is because of these materials. Right now, the technological
advancement and innovation has been redirected on searching alternative
sources to be used in Biodiesel production. In the Philippines, coconut has
been a major stakeholder in producing the biodiesel requirement of the
country, but government agencies projected to have an increase in volume for
the next years, thus, they are looking for materials, biomass to be specific
which is considerably a renewable source of energy with lesser effect and lesser
chances of increasing the pollution percentage human is currently suffering.
Due to the demand for clean and sustainable energy sources, the market
for producing biodiesel is expanding. Vegetable oils and used cooking oils are
frequently converted into biodiesel to help extend the supply of petroleum
products. The performance, energy efficiency, and greenhouse gas emissions of
biodiesel are believed to be superior to those of the commercially available
normal diesel. The Biofuels Act of 2006 (2006) mandates a minimum 2% blend
of biodiesel in all diesel products in order to reduce the amount of imported oil
and provide a less expensive supply of diesel. Around seven billion liters of
petrol diesel are consumed overall in the Philippines each year. The
Philippines, however, only produces about 400 thousand liters of biodiesel
annually, according to the International Energy Statistics as of 2010. The
Biofuels Act's mandate cannot be met with this yearly production. As a result,
new sources and feedstock for the manufacture of biodiesel are required.
It has been suggested that the "Bitoon Plant" (Barringtonia asiatica) may
be a source of biodiesel. These plants are grown extensively and locally without
competing with the needs of the food supply. Around 2.9% of fixed oil,
including olein, palmitin, and stearin, 0.54 percent garlic acid, and 3.27
percent of a glucoside called barringtonia—which can also be used as an
alternative fuel—are present in the seeds of Barringtonia asiatica. The biodiesel
will be produced through extraction of their oils and transesterification to
produce a fatty acid methyl ester. The properties of the biodiesel produced
would be assessed using the Philippine National Standards (PNS) specifications
with the use of standard test methods from the American Society for Testing
and Materials (ASTM) and the American Oil Chemists’ Society (AOCS).

5. METHODS/DETAILS
5.1 INSTRUMENTS
Material used in the experiment; matured fruit of the Fish Poison Tree
(Barringtonia Asiatica); extracted oil from the seed of Barringtonia Asiatica:
Ethanol, that will be used for transesterification process: a catalyst which is
Potassium Hydroxide (KOH): water for sedimentation process.
Equipment used during the experiment; machete was used to break the
husk of the Fish Poison Tree in order to get access of the seeds: kitchen knife
was used to chop the seeds of Fish Poison Tree seeds; a blender was used to
granules the seeds of fish poison tree; a digital weighing scale was used to
measure the samples; a beaker was used to hold the liquid materials in the
experiment; a separatory funnel was used for funnel-filtration. Erlenmeyer
flask for mixing of the solution; Stirring rod was used to stir the liquids; a hot
plate was used to course the transesterification process; a thermometer for
monitoring temperature scale; and a container was used for cleaning the
biodiesel. The analysis of the biodiesel purity will be sent to any public or
private institution that can analyze the flammability and cetane rating.
5.2 EXPERIMENTATION PROCESS
The samples of the harvested fruit of the Fish Poison Tree are cut open
by the use of machete to collect the seeds. Seeds were first cleaned with warm
water to remove any dirt present. It was then weighed to determine its mass.
The seeds of the Fish Poison Tree are then chopped into smaller pieces. After
that, the chopped seed were placed in the blender with a 100 ml of warm
water, blend the seeds for about 10 minutes until the mixture will become
mushy. Then carefully filter with a strainer to separate the granules from the
extracted seed. Afterwards, gently pour the extract in a separatory funnel and
sit for about 8 hours. The oils will appear at the top portion of the separatory
funnel, the water in the middle and the sediments will sink at the bottom.
Separate the sediments and the water from the oil by carefully turning the
nozzle of the separatory funnel.
The oil of the fish poison tree that were collected are placed in a
container and weighed to determine the mass. The collected oils from the seeds
of Fish Poison Tree were weighed again using a digital weighing scale to
calculate the mass for the startup of the transesterification process. Prepare a
solution of 1 g potassium hydroxide (catalyst) and add the catalyst in a 6 g of
ethanol, place in a 125 ml Erlenmeyer flask covered with an aluminum foil in
the lid and place in a hot plate, mix until the potassium hydroxide is dissolved.
In a separate flask, prepare a 100 g of the oil of the fish poison tree and start
heating the oil for about 60 degrees Celsius. Once the temperature is reached,
carefully add the alcohol-catalyst solution in the oil cover the lid with
aluminum foil and heat again for about 60 minutes maintaining a 60 degree
Celsius. After 60 minutes, gently pour the mixture in the separatory funnel.
Leave the mixture for about 20 minutes to cool down allow the mixture to
separate. Afterwards, glycerol will appear in the bottom of the separatory
 funnel and a biodiesel will appear floating at the top of the glycerol, carefully
turn the nozzle of the separatory funnel to separate the glycerol from the
biodiesel. Pour the biodiesel in a beaker and the determine its mass.
Place the biodiesel in a beaker and gently pour a clean warm water. Mix
it using a stirring rod then carefully place in a separatory funnel. Sit for about
6 to 8 hours in order for the water and the impurities to separate from the
biodiesel. After that, the water and the impurities will settle at the bottom of
the separatory funnel. Then separate the water and the impurities from the
biodiesel by carefully opening the nozzle of the separatory funnel. Repeat the
process for about 5 times to guarantee a clean biodiesel. Lastly. Place the clean
biodiesel in a clean container.

Harvesting Pretreatment Extraction Characterization Purification Biodiesel

of seeds

For the Cost Analysis, due to the use of several compounds in the
determination of the efficacy of Bitoon Plant as Biodiesel source, initially, the
amount will exceed on the cost of initial volume of biodiesel that will be
extracted from the seed. Once this project will be proven its feasibility, a more
detailed cost analysis can be done to check the return of investment (ROI) of
having this project.

5.3 REFERENCE
1.Transesterification of Palm oil with Methanol To biodiesel over KF/AI
2 Heterogenous Base Catalyst.Nov 2007 Xiao Guomin, Cui Lingfeng, Gao
Lijing, Xu Bo
3. Butund J.F., Gerard J., Guibal D., 2001 environmental edition, 131 p.
4. Poison Tree (Barringtonia asiatica): An Amazing Tree
5. That Cures Many Diseases/ Factoids/ Patrick Regoniel 5. Naik M, Meher LC,
naik, SN, Dasa, LM. Production of biodiesel from high free fatty acid Karanja
(Pongamia pinnara) oil.