Characterization of jatropha oil for the preparation of biodiesel

There has been greater awareness on biodiesel in developing countries in the recent times and significant activities have picked up for its production especially with a view to boost the rural economy. In the present investigation Jatropha curcas Linn. seed oil (non-edible) and its methyl ester have been chosen to find out their suitability for use as petro-diesel. Experimental investigation has been done to find out the different properties of jatropha oil. Theoretical equation has been developed to find out the properties and they have been compared with the experimental values. Biodiesel was prepared from jatropha oil, through esterification followed by trans-esterification; former was performed using acid catalyst (5% H 2 SO 4 ) and methanol (20% of oil). The trans-esterification reaction was carried out for 2 hrs keeping the molar ratio of methanol to oil at 6:1 and sodium hydroxide concentration of 0.7 weight percentage of oil. The yield of jatropha oil methyl ester was about 97% .The properties of biodiesel depends on the nature of the vegetable oil to be used for preparation of biodiesel and if the developed process is scaled up to commercial levels then excellent business opportunity will be offered by the biodiesel obtained from jatropha oil methyl ester and it could be a major step towards the creation of an eco-friendly transportation fuel that is relatively clean on combustion and provides farmers with substantial income.