A SEMINAR REPORT

ON

BIODEISEL FROM
JATROPHA
SUBMITTED BY

Sagar Kakade
Sushant Modhve

UNDER GUIDANCE OF

PROF. PRAVIN TADKAR

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF
TE CHEMICAL
DEGREE OF UNIVERSITY OF PUNE
DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
AISSMS COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, PUNE -411001
2022– 23
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 DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

Certificate

This is to certify that Mr Sagar kakade , Mr. Sushant Modhve the student of Bachelor of
Chemical Engineering has successfully completed the Seminar report on “Particulate Matter
air Pollution and health risk ” in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of the
Degree of Bachelor of Engineering of University of Pune in the academic year 2022-23.

Prof. PRAVIN TADKAR Dr.M.K.NANIWADEKAR

Guide Head

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 Acknowledgement

I have taken efforts in this seminar. However, it would not have been possible without the
kind support and help of many individuals. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all of
them.

I am highly indebted to my teachers for their guidance and constant supervision as well as for
providing necessary information regarding the project & also for their support in completing
the project.

I would like to express my gratitude towards my parents & member of AISSMS COLLEGE
OF ENGINEERING for their kind co-operation and encouragement which help me in
completion of this project.

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 Abstract

This research work is about the production of biodiesel from jatropha oil. Other oils can also
be used for the production, but jatropha was chosen because it is not edible therefore, it will
not pose a problem to humans in terms of food competition. 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. The production of the biodiesel was done with standard materials
and under standard conditions which made the production a hitch-free one. The jatropha oil
was heated to 60°C, and a solution of sodium methoxide (at 60°C) was added to the oil and
stirred for 45 minutes using a magnetic stirrer. The mixture was then left to settle for 24
hours. Glycerin, which is the byproduct, was filtered off. The biodiesel was then thoroughly
washed to ensure that it was free from excess methanol and soap. The characterization was
done at NNPC Kaduna refinery and petrochemicals. The result shows that the product meets
the set standard for biodiesel.

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 TABLE CONTENTS
Chapter no. Description Page no.
1 Introduction 6
2 Literature survey 8
3.1

. Materials and Methods

9

3.2
10-11
Characterization of Jatropha Oil

3.3 Properties of the jatropha oil used for

12
biodiesel production.
3 3.4 Standard specification of jatropha oil.
13

Conclusion 14
Reference 19
4

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Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION

There is a continuous search for renewable sources of fuels due to the rate of depletion of
fossils. The term biofuel is used to define fuels that are obtainable from plants or animals.
Being a renewable source, it is gaining attention all over the world today. Biofuel is defined
as fuel comprising of mono-alkyl esters of long fatty acids derived from vegetable oils or
animal fats . These fuels could be either in the form of vegetable oils or animal fats that have
been transformed by chemical or natural processes for use in powering various engines.
Biofuels are obtained from renewable energy sources such as biological materials from living
organisms and can also be obtained from biodegrade waste. Hence, the term biomass is used
to describe the sources of biofuels. These are wastes from plants and animals that are capable
of being used as fuels in their original form or with little modification. These wastes can also
be used in production of fibres and chemicals that are essential to our daily lives. The term
biofuel is not the same with fuels from fossils, the major difference between biofuels and
fossil fuel is in their carbon content and the amount of emission they give off when burnt .

is due to high levels of carbon that are released as byproduct and exhaust gases. This
unfortunate situation gave rise to the search for alternative sources of fuels that are more
environmentally friendly, the negative effect of petroleum-based fuels. Over the years there
has been a steady increase in the amount of pollution produced by these fuels. Their methods
of extraction have also led to serious cases of oil spills which tend to destroy the immediate
or Various types of engines manufactured today are made to run on a wide variety of fuels,
such as premium motor spirit (petrol), diesel, or gas as their primary fuel, with all these types
of engines, the diesel engine is the one most suitable to run on biofuel. Also, biofuels are very
similar to diesel fuel in composition; therefore, there is no need for engine modification to
run on biofuels. Diesel engine burns less fuel producing the same amount of work when
compared to a petrol engine . Biodiesel is a carbon-neutral source of fuel and is increasingly
becoming popular. This is a liquid fuel that is created by chemically processing vegetable oil
and altering its properties to make it perform like petroleum diesel. Biodiesel is very similar
to petro diesel, but they are not identical. However, the difference is remarkably small when
we compare the procedure for making biodiesel and petro diesel .

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Biodiesel is made through a chemical process called transesterification; this process involves
altering the chemical properties of a vegetable oil by using methanol . Transesterification of
vegetable oil is a relatively simple process that yields high conversion with glycerin as the
only byproduct. In modern times, the need to find and develop alternative energy sources is
on the increase; this is largely due to a decline in the appeal of traditional energy sources such
as fossil fuel which has been around for many years. Fossil fuels have been linked to various
environmental and ecological problems which have risen from their method of extraction,
production, and eventually their intended point of use . The use of these energy sources over
many years has resulted in global temperature levels also known as global warming. This
remote environment where such resources are found . This has also led to many political and
socioeconomic problems over the world. Therefore, the search for other source of fuel began
as early as 1800 during the early production of combustion engine. During this period,
various oils were used to run engines until the mass production of various fuels overtook the
older fuels. In Africa, especially Nigeria, there is a huge potential for the development of
biofuels as an alternative energy source, this is due to the fact that there is wide variety of
plants produced in the country that could be used as biofuel sources .

Oils from Jatropha, melon, palm oil, soybean, sugar cane, and used oil can be used to
make biodiesel. Jatropha is very important in the production of biodiesel since it is a
nonedible plant and will not cause competition on human food. Advances in the use of
biodiesel as an alternative fuel are aimed at providing cheap and renewable energy, which is
easy to manufacture and more importantly clean and more environmentally friendly . The
production of this fuel can be encouraged at the grass root level to aid ordinary Nigerians use
biodiesel as fuel alternative. This will fill the gap and more importantly relieve pressure on
crude oil as the dominate fuel in the running of equipment . The objective of this study is to
produce biodiesel from Jatropha oil, test its properties, and compare its properties with that of
petrol diesel.

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 Chapter 2

LITRATURE SURVEY
Biodiesel, an ecofriendly and renewable fuel substitute for diesel has been getting the
attention of researchers/scientists of all over the world. The R & D has indicated that up to
B20, there is no need of modification and little work is available related to suitability and
sustainability of biodiesel production from Jatropha as non-edible oil sources. In addition, the
use of vegetable oil as fuel is less polluting than petroleum fuels. The basic problem with
biodiesel is that it is more prone to oxidation resulting in the increase in viscosity of biodiesel
with respect to time which in turn leads to piston sticking, gum formation and fuel
atomization problems.

The report is an attempt to present the prevailing fossil fuel scenario with respect to
petroleum diesel, fuel properties of biodiesel resources for biodiesel production, processes for
its production, purification, etc. Lastly, an introduction of stability of biodiesel will also be
presented.

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3.1. Materials and Methods

3.1.1. Materials

methanol Materials and apparatus used in the production of the biodiesel are as follows:
thermometer, retort stand, pipette, measuring cylinder, separating funnel, magnetic stirrer,
oven, water bath, hydrometer, conical flask, digital weighing balance, stop watch, hot plate,
distilled water, and jatropha oil.

3.1.2. Method

Steps in biodiesel production: two steps are used in the production of the biodiesel as shown
in below.(i)Reduction of the fatty acid contained in the Jatropha oil.(ii)Transesterification.

1 Reduction of the Fatty Acid

jatropha oil was poured into a conical flask and heated to a temperature of 60°C. A mixture
of concentrated H2SO4 (1% w/w) with methanol (30% v/v) was heated separately at (50°C)
and then added to the heated oil in the flask. The mixture was stirred for 1 hour and allowed
to settle for 2 hours.

2.. Transesterification

As obtained in the test carried out on the jatropha oil, it was discovered that the free fatty
acid (FFA) contents of oil are high (21.6%). Hence, it became necessary to reduce it.

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3.2 Characterization of Jatropha Oil

3.2.1. Determination of Viscosity

Procedure. The oil sample was filtered through a sintered glass (fire mesh screen) to remove
dust and other solid materials. The viscometer was charged with the sample by inverting the
tube’s thinner arm into the liquid sample and suction force was drawn up to the upper timing
mark of the viscometer, after which the instrument was turned to its normal vertical position.
The viscometer was placed into a holder and inserted to a constant temperature bath set at
30°C; the sample was left for some minutes until it attained 300°C. The suction force was
then applied to the thinner arm to draw the sample slightly above the upper timing mark. The
afflux time by timing the flow of the upper timing mark to the lower timing mark was
recorded.

3.2.2. Determination of Moisture Content

Procedure. The oil sample was weighed and the mass taken as thus was then dried in the
oven and the weight after drying was taken as . The percentage moisture in the oil was then
calculated using the formula below: where: is the weight of oil sample before drying
(grams), and is the weight of oil sample after drying (grams).

3.2.3. Determination of Free Fatty Acid

Procedure The free fatty acid in the oil was determined by titrating it against Potassium
hydroxide (KOH) using phenolphthalein as indicator.

Procedure. 2 g of oil was dissolved in 50 mL of the neutral solvent in 250 mL conical flask,
3 to 4 drops of phenolphthalein indicator was then added and titrated against 0.1 m KOH. The
content was constantly stirred until a pink colour which persisted for fifteen seconds was
obtained.

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3.2.4. Determination of Specific Gravity

Density bottle was used to determine the density of the oil. A clean dry bottle of 25 mL was
weighed and then filled with the oil; a stopper was inserted and then reweighed to give . The
oil substituted with water after washing and drying and weighed to give .

3.2.5. Determination of Iodine Values

0.5 g of the oil was weighed into a 250 cm3 glass stopper bottle. 15 cm3 of chloroform was
added to dissolve it, followed by 25 cm 3 of wijis iodine solution. The bottle was placed in the
dark and allowed to stay for 30 minutes, after which 20 cm 3 of 15% potassium iodine (KI)
solution was added; the bottle was stoppered and shaken vigorously. This solution was
titrated against a standard 0.1 m sodium thiosulphate solution. Titration was done with
constant shaking until yellow colour of iodine almost disappears. 2 cm 3 of 1% starch indicator
was added and titration continued. When the colour disappeared, bottle was covered with a
stopper and shaken vigorously so that any iodine in the organic solvent layer will pass into
the water layer. Finally, when the titration was completed, the titer values were recorded.
Blank determination was carried out on 5 mL of chloroform and of equal proportion of wijis
solution allowing the precipitate to dissolve for same length of time as for the sample
analyzed.

3.2.6. Determination of Saponification Value

A known quantity of oil was refluxed with an excess amount of alcoholic KOH, after
saponification, the remaining KOH was estimated by titrating against a standard acid.

Procedure. The oil sample was filtered to remove any impurities and last traces of moisture.
5 g of the sample was then weighed into a flask and 5 mL of alcoholic KOH was added from
burette allowing it to drain for the same duration of time. A reflux condenser was connected
to the flasks and allowed to boil gently for one hour. After the flask and condenser get
cooled, they were rinsed down the inside of the condenser with a little distilled water and
then the condenser was removed. About 1 mL of indicator was added and titrated against 0.5
m HCL until the pink colour disappeared.
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3.3 Properties of the jatropha oil used for biodiesel
production.

Property Value

Refractive index 1.46

Iodine value 102

Specific gravity 0.912

PH 5.62

Free fatty acid 18.4

Saponification value (mg

190
KOH/g)

Moisture content 0.20

Acid value % 38.1

Viscosity (cp) 50.7

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3.4 Standard specification of jatropha oil.

Property Value

Colour 4.0

Specific gravity 0.9186

Carbon residue 0.64

Cetane value 51.1

Distillation point 295°C

Kinematic viscosity 50.73 cs

Sulphur % 0.13%

Calorific value 9470 kcal/kg

Pour point 8°C

Acid value 1.0–38.2

Iodine value 90.8–112.5

Saponification value 188–198

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Chapter 4
Conclusion
In the current investigation, it has confirmed that jatropha oil may be used as resource to
obtain biodiesel. The experimental result shows that alkaline-catalyzed transesterification is a
promising area of research for the production of biodiesel in large scale. Materials for use in
the production of biodiesel are readily available without the need for special equipment or
scarce chemicals. Used oil from restaurant can be used. Oil from trees can also be used in the
production of biodiesel. On small scale production, the cost of production is low, but if mass
production and accuracy is the goal, the cost is high. Glycerine which is the by-product of the
chemical reaction can be sold to the pharmaceutical companies, since it is used to produce
valuables such as creams and toothpaste. Effects of different parameters such as temperature,
time, reactant ratio, and catalyst concentration on the biodiesel yield were analyzed. The best
combination of the parameters was found as 8 : 1 molar ratio of methanol to oil, 1.0% KOH
catalyst, 60°C reaction temperature and 60 minutes of reaction time. This optimum condition
yielded 90% of biodiesel. From the characterization of the biodiesel, the physical properties
of biodiesel from jatropha oil with methanol were found to be within the ASTM specified
limits. The viscosity of jatropha oil reduces substantially after transesterification and is
comparable to diesel. Biodiesel characteristics like density and viscosity are comparable to
that of the petrol diesel.

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References

1. Q. Junfeng, S. Haixlan, and Y. Zhi, Preparation of Biodiesel From Jatropha Circas Oil
Produced By Two-Phase Solvent Extraction, Pergamon Press, 2010.
2. W. Marshall, L. G. Schumacher, and S. A. Howell, “Engine Exhaust Emissions
Evaluation of a Cummins L10E When Fueled with a Biodiesel Blend,” SAE Paper No.
952363, SAE, Warrendale, Pa, USA, 1995.
View at: Google Scholar

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