Microwave assisted Jatropha curcas biodiesel production and the effects on the diesel engine performances

Abstract

Experimental investigation was conducted to examine the methyl ester production of high free fatty acid (FFA) of Jatropha Curcas oil (JCO) using waste white clams as catalyst. The waste clams were calcined at 900°C for 4 hours and was characterized using scanning electron microscopic (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray fluorescent (XRF). A two-step transesterification process via microwave heating was selected to perform the production. The study showed that the microwave power input grants the separation process improvement and enhancing the reaction rate at 450 Watt for 7 minutes of reaction time under optimal conditions of 9:1 methanol molar ratio and 5% catalyst loading. A highest biodiesel yield methyl ester was reached up to 93.6%. The engine performances characteristics were carried out with an unmodified direct injection single cylinder diesel engine with variable load and engine speed fuelled with 10% (JCOB10) and 20% (JCOB20) of JCO blended with diesel and compared with standard petroleum diesel. The results indicated that JCOB10 shows similar behaviour like petroleum diesel compared with JCOB20.