Abstract
Biodiesel, a form of diesel fuel, is an alternative fuel similar to the conventional diesel (the fossil) and can be produced from vegetable oils, animal oils and fats, tallow and waste cooking oils. In this study, oil was extracted from shea butter, and then subjected to transesterification process to convert it to biodiesel. Both the oil and the biodiesel were characterized using the standard procedures. The results showed that the oil has a density of 923.82 Kgm3, refractive index of 1.464, viscosity of 4.5 mm2/s at 40OC, acid value of 1.84 mgKOH/g, saponification value of 189.53 mgKOH/g, flash point of 338OC and iodine value of 35.52 mgI2/g. While the results for the biodiesel showed that it has a density of 887.61 Kgm3, refractive index of 1.441, viscosity of 3.62 mm2/s at 40OC, acid value of 0.37 mgKOH/g, saponification value of 265.81 mgKOH/g, flash point of 96OC and iodine value of 34.24 mgI2/g. These results were found to be within the ranges of American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) specification.
Highlights
The World relies on fuels from fossils as the major source of all energies needed, utilized and consumed
The results for the characterization of the shea butter oil and the shea butter biodiesel as well as the ASTM standard for biodiesel is presented in Table 1 below
The oil yield from the shea kernels collected from Hadejia in Jigawa state, Nigeria was found to be 48%, and this was found to be within the range of 4153% as reported by Okullo et al, (2010) for the shea butter kernels obtained from different districts of Uganda
Summary
The World relies on fuels (in the form of petroleum) from fossils as the major source of all energies needed, utilized and consumed. These fossils are seemingly gradually diminishing, and may be finished in the near future. The menace of the ever growing demand for energy all over the world, and the negative effect of carbon dioxide emissions associated with the use of fuels from fossils has necessitated the need to search for other alternative energy sources which may be renewed and with lower environmental impact than the fossil fuels (Atabani et al, 2013; Ho et al, 2014). Biodiesel can be the best alternative fuel for diesel engines because of its technical, environmental and economic benefits, as well as its ability to prolong the life of an engine by 20% and its ability to reduce the rapid occurrence of heat-related damaged (Enweremadu et al, 2011)
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