usman, mohammed awwalu university of lagos - department of chemical and petroleum engineering, Lagos, Nigeria , owolabi, rasheed uthman , Nigeria , onoh, emmanuel nwannebuke , Nigeria

RICINOLEIC ACID METHYL ESTER (RAME): SYNTHESIS, CHARACTERIZATION AND DETERMINATION OF OPTIMUM PROCESS PARAMETERS

34322

Castor oil is a unique vegetable oil with peculiar features such as extremely high viscosity and unusual miscibility with short chain alcohol. This necessitates a comprehensive exploration of all process parameters in the transesterification of castor oil, which is rarely done for other vegetable oils. In this study, the methanolysis of castor oil using alkaline catalyst (potassium hydroxide, KOH) was investigated in a batch reactor via the conventional one-variable-at-a-time protocol. The effects of process parameters including reaction time, reaction temperature, methanol-to-oil molar ratio, catalyst concentration and stirring rate on biodiesel yield were evaluated. The results indicate the significant influence of all parameters on the biodiesel yield. An optimum yield of 96% was achieved at a reaction time of 60 min, reaction temperature of 65°C, methanol-to-oil molar ratio of 12:1, catalyst concentration of 1.5% w/w and stirring rate of 125 rpm. The fuel properties and fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) spectrum of the biodiesel obtained at optimum condition were mostly found to be in conformity with the ASTM D6751 and EN 14214 specification standards.

262

Castor oil , Methanolysis , Ricinoleic acid methyl ester (RAME) , Process parameters , Fuel properties

Anadolu University Journal of Science and Technology. A : Applied Sciences and Engineering

274