Production of biodiesel using enzymatic transesterification of Jatropha Curcas oil: A mathematical study

Production of Biodiesel as an alternative fuel has a greater impact nowadays globally. Biodiesel is produced from vegetable oil or animal fats by means of transesterification. The most cost effective multipurpose plant Jatropha Curcas Linnaeus contains high amount of oil in its seeds, which can be converted to biodiesel through transesterification using enzyme. Use of enzymes for commercial biodiesel transesterification has gained a better importance. Kinetics of production of biodiesel transesterification of Jatropha oil by means of lipase has yet to explore. In this research article, a mathematical model of transesterification of Jatropha Curcas oil in presence of enzyme is formulated and approximate analytical solution for the reaction system is considered using Variational Iteration Method. Numerical simulation has also been done based on the analytical results and is found to be satisfactory.