Solid fuel production from Jatropha oil cake by heat-press treatment

Abstract

Jatropha curcas L. is considered a promising next-generation biomass fuel source. Unfortunately, Jatropha seeds contain toxic phorbol esters (PEs) that must be removed from the extracted oil cake for safe use. We used Jatropha oil cake, a byproduct of biodiesel production, and heat-press equipment to evaluate optimum parameters for PE removal while producing a solid fuel with a high energy density. The PE concentration was measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and results showed that the heat-press treatment was effective for PE removal from Jatropha oil cake. Treatment for 15 min at 195 °C under 19.1 MPa pressure produced a solid fuel with PE concentration below the lower detection limit. Our results suggest both treatment temperature and pressure are important factors for PE removal.