Heterogeneous catalyst screening for biodiesel production from Moringa oil

The production of biodiesel as an alternative to fossil fuels has gained world interest nowadays due to global energy crisis and environmental awareness. Biodiesel is the preferred choice because it is environmental friendly as it decreases the possibility of acid rain and greenhouse effect by reducing the emission amount of COx, SOx and hydrocarbons that are incompletely burned during fuel combustion compared to diesel1. The strict regulations made by the environmental protection agency (EPA) to reduce the noxious emissions and the governmental legislations have motivated the biodiesel industry to formulate the new makeup diesel/biodiesel blends (B10 and B20)2. According to research by US Geological Oil and Gas Journal (1995-2000), Malaysia petroleum resources only can last for less than 50 more years3. Despite new oil reservoir discoveries in areas such as the Gulf of Mexico and the Tupi and Guara fields off South-East Brazil, Sudan, the Caspian Sea, Sakhalin, and in the Artic4, fossil fuels is no longer reliable as it is expensive and depleting sources. Biodiesel sources are renewable as it can be produced from vegetable oil, tallow, lard and waste cooking oil5. Vegetable oil can be categorized into two, edible and non-edible. Numerous research of biodiesel has been made using edible feedstock like palm, soybean, and sunflower oils. However, considering that edible vegetable oils are expensive, researchers has prompted to establish a cheap feedstock for biodiesel from non-edible crops. This study reports a catalyst screening process for biodiesel production from Moringa oil via transesterification process using various heterogeneous catalysts with methanol. The reaction condition is fixed throughout the process which are 3wt.% catalyst loading, 9:1 methanol to oil ratio, reaction temperature of 60oC and 60 min reaction duration to determine the best catalyst for the biodiesel conversion from Moringa oil

Performance and emission analysis of Jatropha curcas and Moringa oleifera methyl ester fuel blends in a multi-cylinder diesel engine

Research on alternative fuels is increasing due to environmental concerns and diminishing fossil fuel reserves. Biodiesel is one of the best renewable replacements for petroleum-based fuels. This paper examines the potential of biodiesel obtained from Jatropha curcas and Moringa oleifera oils. The physico-chemical properties of J. curcas and M. oleifera methyl esters were presented, and their 10% by volume blends (JB10 and MB10) were compared with diesel fuel (B0). The performance of these fuels and their emissions were assessed in a fully loaded multi-cylinder diesel engine at various engine speeds. The properties of J. curcas and M. oleifera biodiesels and their blends agreed with ASTM D6751 and EN 14214 standards. Engine performance test results indicated that the JB10 and the MB10 fuels produced slightly lower brake powers and higher brake specific fuel consumption values compared to diesel fuel over the entire range of speeds. Engine emission results indicated that the JB10 and MB10 fuels reduced the average emissions of carbon monoxide by 14 and 11%, respectively; and hydrocarbons by 16 and 12%, respectively. However, the JB10 and MB10 fuels slightly increased nitrous oxides emissions by 7 and 9%, respectively, and carbon dioxide by 7 and 5%, respectively compared to B0. In conclusion, J. curcas and M. oleifera are potential feedstock for biodiesel production, and the JB10 and MB10 blends can replace diesel fuel without modifying engines to produce cleaner exhaust emissions

Effect of biodiesel-diesel blending on physico-chemical properties of biodiesel produced from Moringa oleifera

The aim of this paper is to study the physical and chemical properties of Moringa oleifera biodiesel and its blends of 10%-90% by volume with petro-diesel according to the American society for testing and materials (ASTM D6751) standards and European standards (EN 14214). It was found that when Moringa biodiesel is blended with diesel fuel, all its fuel properties such as kinematic viscosity (KV), density (D), calorific value (CV), flash point (FP), cloud point (CP), pour point (PP), and cold filter plugging point (CFPP). For example, B10 reduce the viscosity of B100 from 5.05 mm2/s to 3.54 mm2/s (1.4:1). Then developed empirical models of properties are show high regression value (R2) between properties and MOME-diesel blend. It is believed that the results obtained and empirical model proposed in this study will help the researchers to predict the properties of biodiesel-diesel blend which are important parameters to design the fuel system of biodiesel engine