TRANSESTERIFICATION OF CASTOR OIL FOR BIODIESEL PRODUCTION

摘要

In this study, the production of biodiesel by transesterification of castor oil with methanol in thepresence of alkali catalyst was studied. The reaction parameters such as catalyst type (potassium hydroxide, sodiumhydroxide, potassium methoxide and sodium methoxide), reaction time (5-40 min) and reaction temperature (25-65℃) were optimized for production of castor oil methyl ester. Finally, analytical methods were applied on the finalbiodiesel product to determine the fuel characteristics and results were compared with the diesel standards of EN14214 and ASTM D 6751. The present study indicates that castor oil is quite suitable for biodiesel production.