Open AccessComparative Analysis of Biodiesel Production from Five Varieties of Castor Beans
Author(s) -
Julius Kewir Tangka,
Djousse Kanouo Boris Merlain,
Dontsa Tsafack Bertold Donald,
Max Croft,
Vincent Kitio
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of advances in biology and biotechnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2394-1081
DOI - 10.9734/jabb/2020/v23i1130186
Subject(s) - castor oil , ricinus , castor beans , ricinoleic acid , biodiesel , chemistry , botany , biology , organic chemistry , catalysis
A comparative study was conducted to estimate biodiesel productivity of five varieties of castor beans: Ricinus communis zanzibariensis {white black} (castor 1), Ricinus communis sanguineus (castor 2), Ricinus communis carmencita (castor 3), Ricinus communis zanzibariensis {dark black} (castor 4) and Ricinus communis {black Tanzania}(castor 5). The castor beans were preheated to a temperature between 22 and 33 ° C and then pressed with a manual hydraulic press, under 170 bars. The oil obtained was subjected to the transesterification reaction with methanol (99.98% pure) in a proportion of 5: 1 in the presence of sodium hydroxide as a catalyst (10,672g) for 02 hours at temperature between 60 and 70 °C. Purification was performed by reacting the methyl ester formed with heated water (55 °C) and acetic acid. The density, the kinematic viscosity at 21 ° C and the proportion of residual soap were determined later. The results for five castor varieties showed that the oil yields varied from 24 to 26.96 %; the volume of methyl ester was higher with castor 4 and lower with castor 5 but there was no significant difference in the biodiesel yields. Castor 2 has the best yield of biodiesel (93.5%), followed by castor 5 (92.5%), castor 3 (91%), castor 1 (90.75 %) and castor 4 (90%). Therefore castor oil 2 has a better potential for biodiesel production.