Biodiesel production from Hiptage benghalensis seed oil

Abstract

Increasing demand of fossil fuel and its depleting stock across the globe have necessitated a search for potential alternative sources of renewable energy. Recently focus has shifted to production of diesel from bio-oils derived from plant biomass as a potential source. However, it has been an endeavour to shift the exploration to non-edible oils produced by non-crop plants. Hiptage benghalensis is one such unexplored plant which stores ricinoleic acid in its seeds. In this report, analyses of various biochemical and biophysical parameters of H. benghalensis seed oil have been undertaken in order to explore the potential of this oil for biodiesel production. The plant was sourced from three different geographic regions of India. The total lipid and ricinoleic acid contents of seeds obtained from three locations varied from 54 to 69% and 69–87 %, respectively. Properties of various parameters of the H. benghalensis seed oil (HbSO), besides being non-edible prove its potential as a biodiesel feedstock. In order to test this potential, the seed oil was converted into biodiesel through the process of transesterification with an efficiency of ∼93 %. Analysis of various fuel properties like acid value, calorific value, viscosity, density, ash content, flash, pour and cloud point of the biodiesel in accordance with ASTM-D6751 standard and a comparison with the properties of other reported biodiesels showed its reasonable quality. Thus, this non-edible oil from H. benghalensis seeds has a potential to be utilized as an alternate green energy source for biodiesel production.