Studying some effective parameters on transesterification reaction to produce biodiesel from safflower oil.

ABSTRACT: Biodiesel fuel, due to uncontrollable prices of fossil fuels, reduction of its resources and environmental pollution, has become increasingly important. Biodiesel (the mono alkyl esters of fatty acids) is a renewable and green energy, derived from vegetable oils and animal fats. The high viscosity of vegetable oils prevents their direct use in diesel engines, so, among different methods of chemical modification, transesterification is used to produce biodiesel. In this study, safflower plant oil was used to produce biodiesel. Safflower oil was extracted by soxhlet apparatus and its physical properties were determined. The effect of molar ratio (oil to alcohol) and amount of catalyst on the conversion of oil to methyl ester was studied. The results indicate that, catalyst amount (1%w/w) and 6:1 molar ratio of alchohol to oil were the optimum conditions for producing of biodiesel and 96% yield of methyl esters has been obtained. Produced biodiesel was within recommended standards of biodiesel fuel (ASTMD675109).