Study of an effective technique for the production of biodiesel from jatropha oil

This paper presents biodiesel production from non-edible jatropha oil by transesterification process on a bench scale using sodium hydroxide (NaOH) as catalyst for the methanolysis of the jatropha oil. This study evaluated the effect of the concentration of the basic catalyst on the biodiesel yield. The biodiesel was evaluated for fuel properties and compared with the American Society for Testing and Material (ASTM) specification for biodiesel according to its physical, chemical and mechanical properties such as viscosity, flash point, density, sulphur content. The results show that the properties of the biodiesel produced was found to be within the limit of the ASTM specifications for biodiesel. At a catalyst concentration of 0.8%, reaction temperature of 65%, reaction time of 1 hour and methanol to oil molar ratio 5:1, the amount of biodiesel produced was 95.5%.