Production and Characterization of Biodiesel from Tung Oil

The feasibility of biodiesel production from tung oil was investigated. The esterification reaction of the free fatty acids of tung oil was performed using Amberlyst-15. Optimal molar ratio of methanol to oil was determined to be 7.5:1, and Amberlyst-15 was 20.8wt% of oil by response surface methodology. Under these reaction conditions, the acid value of tung oil was reduced to 0.72mg KOH/g. In the range of the molar equivalents of methanol to oil under 5, the esterification was strongly affected by the amount of methanol but not the catalyst. When the molar ratio of methanol to oil was 4.1:1 and Amberlyst-15 was 29.8wt% of the oil, the acid value decreased to 0.85mg KOH/g. After the transesterification reaction of pretreated tung oil, the purity of tung biodiesel was 90.2wt%. The high viscosity of crude tung oil decreased to 9.8mm2/s at 40 °C. Because of the presence of eleostearic acid, which is a main component of tung oil, the oxidation stability as determined by the Rancimat method was very low, 0.5h, but the cold filter plugging point, −11 °C, was good. The distillation process did not improve the fatty acid methyl ester content and the viscosity.

[1]  T. Miyazawa,et al.  Tumor growth suppression by alpha-eleostearic acid, a linolenic acid isomer with a conjugated triene system, via lipid peroxidation. , 2004, Carcinogenesis.

[2]  S. Gryglewicz,et al.  Use of vegetable oils and fatty acid methyl esters in the production of spherical activated carbons , 2000 .

[3]  M. Aroua,et al.  Response surface optimization of conditions for clarification of carambola fruit juice using a commercial enzyme , 2007 .

[4]  Martin Mittelbach,et al.  The impact of antioxidants on biodiesel oxidation stability , 2004 .

[5]  G. Knothe.  Dependence of biodiesel fuel properties on the structure of fatty acid alkyl esters , 2005 .

[6]  Yi-Hsu Ju,et al.  A two-step acid-catalyzed process for the production of biodiesel from rice bran oil. , 2005, Bioresource technology.

[7]  J. Marchetti,et al.  Heterogeneous esterification of oil with high amount of free fatty acids , 2007 .

[8]  Yong Wang,et al.  COMPARISON OF TWO DIFFERENT PROCESSES TO SYNTHESIZE BIODIESEL BY WASTE COOKING OIL , 2006 .

[9]  Ram Prasad,et al.  TRIGLYCERIDES-BASED DIESEL FUELS , 2000 .

[10]  J. Marchetti,et al.  Possible methods for biodiesel production , 2007 .

[11]  Laureano Canoira,et al.  Biodiesel from Jojoba oil-wax: Transesterification with methanol and properties as a fuel , 2006 .

[12]  Patit Paban Kundu,et al.  Addition polymers from natural oils- : A review , 2006 .

[13]  M. Haas,et al.  Simple, high-efficiency synthesis of fatty acid methyl esters from soapstock , 2000 .

[14]  M. Mittelbach,et al.  Jatropha curcas L. as a source for the production of biofuel in Nicaragua , 1996 .

[15]  D. P. Lo Fiego,et al.  Influence of dietary conjugated linoleic acids and vitamin E on meat quality, and adipose tissue in rabbits. , 2007, Meat science.

[16]  F. Silva,et al.  Thermoanalytical characterization of castor oil biodiesel , 2007 .

[17]  H. Raheman,et al.  Process optimization for biodiesel production from mahua (Madhuca indica) oil using response surface methodology. , 2006, Bioresource technology.

[18]  T. Miyazawa,et al.  Oxidation rate of conjugated linoleic acid and conjugated linolenic acid is slowed by triacylglycerol esterification and α-tocopherol , 2004, Lipids.