Production of Bio-diesel (Methyl Ester) from Simarouba Glauca Oil

摘要

In developed countries, most of biodiesel is produced from the refined oil like soybean and canola etc. produced from farmers’ field using methanol and alkaline catalyst. But a large amount of tree borne oils and fats are available for biodiesel production in developing and under develop countries. Simarouba glauca oil is one of these oils. This paper deals with the transesterification of Simarouba glauca oil by means of methanol in presence of Potassium hydroxide catalyst at less than 65~(o)C. The viscosity of biodiesel is nearer to that of the diesel. The biodiesel is characterized by TLC and the important properties of biodiesel such as density, flash point, cloud point, pour point, carbon residue and ash content are found out and compared with that of diesel. The studies encourage the production of biodiesel from unrefined Simarouba glauca oil as viable alternative to the diesel fuel.