Azadirchta excelsa seed oil, a potential non-conventional biodiesel feedstock

Abstract

The fact that 60% of the Indian population is dependent on Agricultural practices for their livelihood means that there is a huge potential for the development of second-generation Biofuel. The current work involves the use of Azadirchta excelsa seeds to obtain biofuel. It is a commercial crop grown in Southern parts of India such as Karnataka. It is mainly grown to get timber for building houses and for manufacturing of match sticks. Soxhlet extraction method was used to extract oil from the seeds, with hexane being the choice of solvent and a yield of 35% was obtained. The oil was transesterified using Base (NaOH) catalyst method to produce oil methyl ester. The conversion rate of oil was found to be 50%. The physicochemical parameters of the biodiesel produced were analyzed of other basic parameters. The results lied within the range of American society of testing material (ASTM D6751) standards and Indian Standards (IS) 15607 specifications for biodiesel samples, which conclude that A.excelsa seed oil can be satisfactorily used as a feed-stock for biodiesel production.