Abstract
The present study explores the methodology for the synthesis of bio-oil from waste trichosanthes cucumerina seeds by the solvent extraction method. It investigates the yield percentage, concentration of free fatty acids and acid contents in the extracted bio-oil. Effects of size of the crushed seeds, moisture content, extraction time, solvent to seed ratio and extraction temperatures were examined. The non-polar hexane solvent resulted in a higher percentage of oil yield (28.4 ± 0.4%) for the crushed seed size of 0.21 mm, 6% moisture content, 270 min extraction time, 68 °C temperature and 6:1(ml/g) of solvent to seed ratio. The synthesized bio-oil was characterized using Fourier Transform Infra-Red spectrum and Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectroscopy analysis. The properties of the bio-oil and biodiesel were assessed according to the American Society for Testing and Materials and the Association of Official Analytical Chemists standards. The obtained methyl-ester by trans-esterification process results in the fuel properties closer to the conventional fuel. Thus, Trichosanthes cucumerina bio-diesel can be used as a potential substitute.
Highlights
The present study explores the methodology for the synthesis of bio-oil from waste trichosanthes cucumerina seeds by the solvent extraction method
For the first set of experiments, trichosanthes cucumerina seeds with the moisture content of 1 ± 0.02% were considered to check the yield of bio-oil with hexane as the solvent and resulted in 20.5 ± 0.3%
Further increase in moisture content reduced the yield since the penetration of hexane into the trichosanthes cucumerina seed, and the higher moisture content functioned as the barrier for bio-oil extraction[28,29,30]
Summary
The present study explores the methodology for the synthesis of bio-oil from waste trichosanthes cucumerina seeds by the solvent extraction method It investigates the yield percentage, concentration of free fatty acids and acid contents in the extracted bio-oil. In the trans-esterification process, the traces of free fatty acids in the oil extracted gets removed and produce the by-products of ester and crude glycerol with the assistance of an acid catalyst, alkali catalyst and purification process[11,12,13] This trans-esterification process is considered as the most feasible and commercially used technique for the conversion of methyl esters and effective reduction of viscosity for the bio-oils[14]. The non-polar solvent hexane seen with better results compared to other
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