Biodiesel production from jatropha seeds: Solvent extraction and in situ transesterification in a single step

The objective of this study was to investigate solvent extraction and in situ transesterification in a single step to allow direct production of biodiesel from jatropha seeds. Experiments were conducted using milled jatropha seeds, and n-hexane as extracting solvent. The influence of methanol to seed ratio (2:1–6:1), amount of alkali (KOH) catalyst (0.05–0.1 mol/L in methanol), stirring speed (700–900 rpm), temperature (40–60 °C) and reaction time (3–5 h) was examined to define optimum biodiesel yield and biodiesel quality after water washing and drying. When stirring speed, temperature and reaction time were fixed at 700 rpm, 60 °C and 4 h respectively, highest biodiesel yield (80% with a fatty acid methyl ester purity of 99.9%) and optimum biodiesel quality were obtained with a methanol to seed ratio of 6:1 and 0.075 mol/L KOH in methanol. Subsequently, the influence of stirring speed, temperature and reaction time on biodiesel yield and biodiesel quality was studied, by applying the randomized factorial experimental design with ANOVA (F-test at p = 0.05), and using the optimum values previously found for methanol to seed ratio and KOH catalyst level. Most experimental runs conducted at 50 °C resulted to high biodiesel yields, while stirring speed and reaction time did not give significantly effect. The highest biodiesel yield (87% with a fatty acid methyl ester purity of 99.7%) was obtained with a methanol to seed ratio of 6:1, KOH catalyst of 0.075 mol/L in methanol, a stirring speed of 800 rpm, a temperature of 50 °C, and a reaction time of 5 h. The effects of stirring speed, temperature and reaction time on biodiesel quality were not significant. Most of the biodiesel quality obtained in this study conformed to the Indonesian Biodiesel Standard

Direct Calophyllum oil extraction and resin separation with a binary solvent of n-hexane and methanol mixture

This study investigated the use of a mixture of n-hexane and methanol as a binary solvent for the direct oil extraction and resin separation from Calophyllum seeds, in a single step. Optimal oil and resin yields and physicochemical properties were determined by identifying the best extraction conditions. The solvent mixture tested extracted oil and resin effectively from Calophyllum seeds, and separated resin from oil. Extraction conditions affected oil and resin yields and their physicochemical properties, with the n-hexane-to-methanol ratio being the most critical factor. Oil yield improved as n-hexane-to-methanol ratio increased from 0.5:1 to 2:1, and resin yield increased as methanol-to-n-hexane ratio increased from 0.5:1 to 2:1. Physicochemical properties of oil and resin, particularly for acid value and impurity content, improved as the n-hexane-to-methanol ratio decreased from 2:1 to 0.5:1. The best oil (51% with more than 95% triglycerides) and resin (18% with more than 5% polyphenols) yields were obtained with n-hexane-to-methanol ratios of 2:1 and 0.5:1, respectively, at a temperature of 50 °C, with an extraction time of 5 h. The best values for physicochemical property of oil were a density of 0.885 g/cm3, a viscosity of 26.0 mPa.s, an acid value of 13 mg KOH/g, an iodine value of 127 g/100 g, an unsaponifiable content of 1.5%, a moisture content of 0.8% and an ash content of 0.04%

New Renewable and Biodegradable Particleboards from Jatropha Press Cakes

The influence of thermo-pressing conditions on the mechanical properties of particleboards obtained from Jatropha press cakes was evaluated in this study. Conditions such as molding temperature and press cake oil content were included. All particleboards were cohesive, with proteins and fibers acting respectively as binder and reinforcing fillers. Generally, it was the molding temperature that most affected particleboard mechanical properties. The most resistant boards were obtained using 200°C molding temperature. Glass transition of proteins then occurred during molding, resulting in effective wetting of the fibers. At this optimal molding temperature, the best compromise between flexural properties (7.2 MPa flexural strength at break and 2153 MPa elastic modulus), Charpy impact strength (0.85 kJ/m²) and Shore D surface hardness (71.6°), was a board obtained from press cake with low oil content (7.7%). Such a particleboard would be usable as interlayer sheets for pallets, for the manufacture of containers or furniture, or in the building trade

Twin-Screw Extrusion: a key technology for the biorefinery

International audienceFor more than 30 years, the Laboratory of Agro-industrial Chemistry (LCA) develops an ambitious and multi-scale research topic on the use of twin-screw extrusion (TSE) for the processing of biomass for non-food applications. This chapter will give an overview of past and present projects, discussing specific operating conditions and their consequences on biopolymer native organization. For the production of agro-materials, compounding processes have been designed and in some cases industrialized integrating specific targeted actions such as the plasticization of primary cell-walls (sugar beet, tobacco), the "fusion" of storage polymers (starch, oilseed proteins) and/or the destructuring of secondary cell-walls (lignocellulosic fibers). For the pretreatment of lignocellulosic fibers, the conjugated use of chemicals is also discussed. Those processes have also been coupled with biodegradable polyester blending (involving compatibilization with acid citric) and compounding. In integrated biorefining processes, TSE may also be used simultaneously as a continuous liquid-solid extractor through mechanical pressing or solvent extraction, for extracting oil, polysaccharides, proteins, polyphenols or hydroxycinnamic acids and as a pre-treatment of the fibrous raffinate. This is especially efficient for the processing of oilseed crops and the production of binderless fiberboards or to prepare technical fibers for composite applications. This has been widely demonstrated on sunflower, jatropha or more recently coriander. Finally, in the bioenergy field, a specific pretreatment process for the production of bioethanol from lignocellulosic feedstock has been developed and is actually in the up-scaling phase. Integrating the use of enzymes in a one-step TSE, this process has been called "bioextrusion"

In-situ transesterification reaction for biodiesel production

Biodiesel synthesis can be conducted using transesterification of triglycerides in the presence of catalyst and alcohol. The oil extraction and transesterification steps are carried out separately for the conventional biodiesel production, which can result in longer time requirement and using different operating units. An alternative to the conventional method is the in-situ transesterification process, where it combines both extraction and transesterification processes into a single-step process. Biomass feedstock is used directly in the in-situ method, which can reduce the time required to obtain biodiesel, as well as conduct both processes simultaneously. The single-step process can be integrated with other technology such as microwave irradiation to enhance biodiesel productivity. Furthermore, the in-situ transesterification process involving microalgae feedstock has started to gain attention from researchers, where microalgae biomass is utilized as a feedstock for the in-situ transesterification process without the lipid extraction step prior to the transesterification reaction. This chapter focused on the in-situ transesterification process for biodiesel production, particularly for both catalytic and non-catalytic processes, and also the application of the single-step process for biodiesel synthesis from microalgae