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Evaluation of mustard oil for the synthesis of biodiesel: Pretreatment and optimization study
Author(s) -
Shahzadi Iram,
Sadaf Sana,
Iqbal Javed,
Ullah Inam,
Bhatti Haq Nawaz
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
environmental progress and sustainable energy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.495
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1944-7450
pISSN - 1944-7442
DOI - 10.1002/ep.12833
Subject(s) - biodiesel , transesterification , biodiesel production , methanol , pulp and paper industry , biofuel , vegetable oil , yield (engineering) , chemistry , organic chemistry , catalysis , environmental science , materials science , waste management , engineering , metallurgy
Mustard is an important oil crop in Pakistan. The present investigation deals with the evaluation of mustard oil biodiesel as an alternative and renewable fuel to compensate the energy requirements in the world. Because of the presence of high free fatty acids, the mustard oil was first esterified. Important process parameters including the methanol to oil ratio, catalyst dose, reaction temperature, and reaction time were optimized. About 94% of free fatty acids have been successfully esterified by using 1:3.3 methanol to oil ratio, 0.8% catalyst, 60°C temperature, and 280 min of contact time. The pretreated oil was transesterified for biodiesel production. Important influencing parameters have been optimized and study results indicated that 98% biodiesel yield was obtained within 70 min. Physico‐chemical properties of synthesized biodiesel were also analyzed with standard procedures. All characterization results were found in good agreement with recommended ASTM standards. The composition of synthesized biodiesel was determined by GC analysis. The results indicated that, mustard crop can be used as a potential resource for biodiesel production and alkali catalyzed transesterification is an efficient and economical method to synthesize good quality biodiesel. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 37: 1829–1835, 2018