Biodiesel Conversionion of high FFA Neem oil by blending it with low FFA Sesame oil

Abstract

Biodiesel is a clean, renewable fuel and may be considered as a potential option to supplement fossil-based fuels. It is deduced from a variety of edible and non-edible vegetable oils, animal fats, waste cooking oil and animal fat, etc. Non-edible vegetable oils are second generation feedstocks and a better alternative to edible feed crops for biodiesel production.This paper deals with production of Biodiesel from the oils of Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) and Neem (Azadirachta indica) which are available in India and other parts of the world. Neem oil is non edible oil having very high free fatty acid (FFA) content. It requires pre-treatment neutralization step before undergoing the alkali catalyzed transesterification process, very high alcohol to oil molar ratio and comparatively larger reaction time needed to obtain sustainable yield of biodiesel. Sesame oil is an edible oil mainly used in pharmaceuticals due to its medicinal properties and has low FFA content. These two oils, one having very high FFA content and other having low FFA content are mixed in suitable proportions and this mixture is transesterified without the pre-treatment process at a molar ratio of 6:1. A significant conversion yield is achieved by mixing the feedstocks before transesterification reaction.