Transesterification of High Free Fatty Acid Jatropha Curcas Oil using Heterogeneous Catalyst

Abstract

Biodiesel is a cleaner burning diesel alternative fuel produced from vegetable oils and fats through transesterification process. Jatropha curcas oil used for biodiesel production had free fatty acid content of 8.8 per cent. The oil was pretreated using sulphuric acid with 25% methanol for 1 h at 50°C. The yield of pretreated oil was 95% and the FFA content was reduced. The acid treated oil was transesterified using 0.5% NaOH and 25% methanol for 2 h at 60°C. The yield of monoester was 95.8 per cent.