Development And Characterization Of Biodiesel From Non-Edible Vegetable Oils Of Indian Origin

Increased environmental awareness and depletion of fossil fuel resources are driving industry to develop alternative fuels that are environmentally more acceptable. Vegetable oils are potential alternative fuels. Vegetable oils in India are produced from numerous oil-seed crops. While all vegetable oils have high energy content, most require some processing to ensure safe usage in internal combustion engines. Most detrimental properties of oils are its high viscosity, low volatility and polyunsaturated character. The most widely used method is to convert vegetable oils into biodiesel. Biodiesel fuels are primary esters, which are produced by transesterifcation of vegetable oils. Several vegetable oil esters have been investigated so far in different parts of the world and found suitable to be used in diesel engines. In present investigation, methyl esters of some non-edible vegetable oils of Indian origin (castor, linseed and ricebran) are prepared and their properties have been evaluated. The effect of temperature on the viscosity of vegetable oils and their esters was studied. Viscosity of vegetable oils drastically decreases after transesterification. Flash point and specific gravity of neat ricebran and linseed oil and their esters were also evaluated in this investigation.