Engineering Research Practice on Jatropha Curcas Biodiesel Production

This research paper discusses the production of biodiesel from Jatropha Curcas, a non-edible source of oil. It covers the problem statement, sub-problems, limitations, hypothesis, and literature review. The methodology of the research includes data collection, the process of producing Jatropha biodiesel, and systematic description of solving the problem.

ENGINEERING RESEARCH PRACTICE
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Course
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Contents
The problem and its setting.........................................................................................................................2
Importance of the study and the general Background............................................................................2
Problem Statement.....................................................................................................................................2
Sub-problems..........................................................................................................................................3
Limitation of the study................................................................................................................................3
Hypothesis...................................................................................................................................................4
Acronyms.....................................................................................................................................................4
Assumptions................................................................................................................................................4
Literature Review........................................................................................................................................4
Jatropha Curcas (Al-Sharb)......................................................................................................................4
The methodology of the research...............................................................................................................8
Data collection.........................................................................................................................................8
The process of Producing Jatropha Biodiesel......................................................................................8
Systematic Description of solving the problem...........................................................................................9
Ethical Consideration.................................................................................................................................12
Outline of the proposed Study..................................................................................................................13
8. Kernel Cooling Unit..........................................................................................................................13
Estimates of the Budgets...........................................................................................................................14
Kernel Cooling Unit....................................................................................................................................14
Peeling Unit Machine................................................................................................................................14
Gantt chart................................................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................................16

The problem and its setting
Importance of the study and the general Background
There is a rapid increase in demand and consumption of petroleum products yearly following the
increase in urbanization, living standards and the population as a whole. Additionally, the
extinction threat on the non-renewable sources globally has effectively offered encouragement to
employ other means to conventional, petroleum products currently found in the market. The
current fuels in common use across the world which are obtained from fossil fuel are diesel and
gasoline. There is no great variation however in the amount of diesel consumed in several
countries including the UK which has been estimating to about 230 000 tons per month. The
development, as well as the economy of UK, is greatly influenced by the increased importation
of crude oil(Mehmood et al 2019).
Apart from the extinction threat of fossil fuel, as a result of its non-renewable nature, gasoline is
linked to negative impacts on the environment. Diesel-driven vehicles were prohibited from an
operation following the vigorous air pollution by the emissions of harmful gases in large
amounts sometimes back. Accumulation of the harmful gases like CO and SOX to high levels
results in effects like health problems, global warming, and acid rain. Therefore, putting into
consideration fuels with renewable sources, more friendly to the environment in order to attain
the demand for energy that increase globally should be overstressed.

Problem Statement
There are numerous sources for both renewable and non-renewable energy including petrol,
mineral, diesel, and coal. Currently, it can be observed that there is a daily increase in the
demand for the non-renewable sources of energy. This particular demand is likely to pose future
problems due to the unbalanced ratio for the demand and supply of these resources. This may
result in energy crises. The trending effect will be reflected on the human development.
Scholars have developed intensive research due to such critical problem to come up with
alternatives for renewable energy sources such as tidal energy, viz solar energy and wind energy.
From the years back, research has been conducted on vegetable oil in some parts of the world as
an alternative source of fuel. In developed countries, most of the production of biodiesel is from
peanut, rapeseed, sunflower, soybean and many others as a mechanism of addressing energy
crises.
Sub-problems
There are no modifications or any kind of system injection or the lines of fuels required for the
use of vegetable oil that is transesterified or changed chemically. The vegetable oil can be
directly applied in the diesel engine. Out of the different types of vegetable oils used in the
production of biodiesel, non-edible oils are preferred since the edible ones are in great demand
and at the same time expensive compared to diesel fuel. The competition for edible oil for food
consumption and diesel oil production thus remains to be a challenge.
Limitation of the study
Jatropha curcas has been identified out of the non-edible sources of oil to be the great source of
biodiesel and in comparison to other sources that have also greatly contributed to the rapid
growth, jatropha curcas has been realized to be more efficient for the production and is

appropriate for the tropical and subtropical areas across the world. The species are limited to
offer enough diesel fuel for the country and may result in large currency on export for the
country. However, the study did not explore all varieties of Jatropha curcas and therefore are
possibility of having limitations in terms of the quality of the oil when other varieties are tested.
Hypothesis
The oil has a high content of diesel and the extraction, as well as modification, can easily be
performed due to the natural state of the climate.
Acronyms
CO- Oxides of Carbon
SOX- Oxides of sulfates
Assumptions
 The production of the biodiesel oil from Jatropha Curcas took into assumption several
factors:
 The calorific value of the produced oil will be sufficient enough to run engines
 The production process is not affected by the temperature variation
 The produced fuel is not seriously contaminated to the point where its functionality will
be compromised.
Literature Review
Jatropha Curcas (Al-Sharb)
Jatropha curcas also referred to as physic unit is a small tree of height 5m or a bush that falls in
the family of euphorbia. Jatropha as a genus is compost of around 170 species under it and is

extracted from a Greek work janitor's meaning doctor and trophy', meaning food, summed to be
medical uses. Farmers across the world usually prefer planting of the plant as a living fence or
hedge since it cannot be fed on by the animals. The plant consists of thick glabrous branches and
straight trunk and either grey or reddish bark covered by large white patches. The leaves are
green and 6cm long and 15cm wide as shown in the figure below.
Figure 1: showing Jatropha Curcas(Teo, Goto and Taufiq 2015)
The flowers produced by the plant in racemes inflorescences are yellowish-green assuming the
pattern of dichasia cymae. The number of female and male flowers produced per inflorescences
is 1 to 5 and around 25 to 93 respectively. The ratio of male to female flower is averagely 29:1.
The flower bears the same shape but female flowers are a bit large. The fruits produced by the
plant are grey-brown capsule of length 4cm and tri-halved shape each having a single seed. The
seeds are black and of length 2cm and thickness of 1cm. the fruits generally mature within
September and October. After the flowering process, the seeds take three months to mature.

Figure 2: showing the seeds and fruits of the Jatropha Curcas plant
The plant Al-Sharb is regarded old in the country of Yemen and is used as separation structures
in the fields to act as live fence dales riversides to Tehama hills shed from the south, west and
middle parts of Taiz. The figure below illustrates the regional stations for the Taiz southern
heights executed initially by the irrigation and the agricultural ministry and the agricultural
teaching and research public authority.
Figure 3: showing Places where Jatropha Curcas grows and how it spreads to Taiz (indicated
by the yellow shadings) (Mehmood et al 2019)

Jatropha Curcas has other advantages apart from the production source of biodiesel fuel. These
advantages include the following:
 The plant can survive in areas with low amounts of rainfall within the range of 600mm
per annum and in less fertile soils, it, however, thrives well in areas experiencing large
amounts of rain or areas under irrigation.
 Easy establishment, hardy and have a relative speed of growth.
 The seeds have a high content of nitrogen, therefore, provide a good source of organic
manure.
 Some parts of the plant can be used for medicinal purposes, for example, barks are
composed of tannins and its flowers attract a large number of bees forming the potential
part for the production of honey.
 The plant can be used in forested land reclamation since it lends to the beneficial
plantation on watershed developed lands as well as fallow lands, degraded, wasted and
marginalized areas of low fertility and other regions like alongside the railway lines, farm
boundaries, canals, and roads(Odetoye et al 2018) .
 Just like any other tree, Al-Sharb photosynthesizes by use of carbon dioxide gas, and
stores it in the woody parts to enrich the soil with carbon content, therefore it proves to be
free from pollution.
Despite all the advantages mentioned above, Jatropha has some disadvantages which include:
 The plant cannot survive in waterlogging and sloppy areas where the temperatures exceed
300C.
 The ultimate climate changes for the plant cannot be estimated in terms of annual rainfall.

 The seeds of the plant are relatively hard and more toxic, the species within the seed can
affect the young growing plants.
 The plant requires medium climatic states of 600mm, hot climatic conditions of 1200mm
and a pH lower than 9 for the soil. The temperature of the atmosphere should not go
below 0 0C since it highly responds to the frost of the ground experienced during winters.
Establishment of the plant can be done through cuttings, seedling or seeds. Propagated cuttings
are more efficient and attain faster growth. The plant takes a duration of about one to two years
after planting to bear fruits. The plant has no necessity requirements for the type of soil and the
tillage processes. Jatropha can accomplish the requirements including energy provision for
domestic operations like lighting and cooking. It creates employment as well as additional
household income sources through the selling of the fuel, medicinal products, animal feed,
fertilizer, cosmetics, raw materials for the industry like soap and many others. To the
environment, it offers protection to grazing fields and crops as well, at the same time, it is used
as a control measure to erosion, windbreaker, and source of manure(Zhou et al.2015).
The methodology of the research
Data collection
The process of Producing Jatropha Biodiesel
The production of biodiesel involves a catalyzed (strong base like hydroxides of potassium or
sodium) reaction of fats and oils with alcohol (either ethanol or methanol). Esters obtained from
the fatty acids (ethyl or methyl), the initial components of fats and oils are generally preferred for
the reaction. The by-products that result from the reaction are alkali salts and glycerin and are
applied in the chemical industries as raw materials. The pharmaceutical industry may apply
glycerin in its processes while potassium salts are used to produce fertilizer rich in potassium.

A quick review of the literature concerning biodiesel will shortly present the production
relationship of biodiesel from fats and oils as shown below:
Oil (100 lbs.) + methanol (20 L) → biodiesel (100 lbs.) + glycerol (20 lbs.) (a simplified
transesterification reaction shown below)
Figure4: showing Transesterification reaction
Systematic Description of solving the problem
Steps for the preparation of Jatropha curcas crude oil
Seed Preparation
Mature fruits of the plant are harvested and dried over the sun. Manual decortication is
performed or by use of decorticator. The seeds are then heated over the sun for hours or placed
over the fire for ten minutes to make it ready for the extraction of oil. One has to be careful not to
overheat the seeds. This is done to weaken the oil containing shells and make the flow of oil
easy. Heating liquefies the oil enhancing the process of extraction. Extraction of oil from the
seed can then be done by use of solvents, heat or pressure. Heat is not usually preferred for

economical extraction of vegetable oils. Extraction of oil from the seeds of the plant can be
performed using three techniques such as the solvent method of extraction, mechanical
extraction method by use of screw press and lastly intermittent method of extraction.
Crushing of the Seed and Extraction of Oil
The seed composts of approximately 38% wt. oil. Screw press technique can be used for
mechanical extraction of around 27 to 32% of the oil(Marutani, Soria and Martinez 2018).
Mechanical methods can be applied for efficient extraction of the oil since availability
constraints for the technique was traditionally performed by an expertized woman in the mode
shown below.
Figure5 : showing the traditional technique of crushing and extraction of oil from the
seed(Mehmood et al.2019).
The extracted oil from the seed is refined oil, taken in that form to the transesterification system,
it can either be crude oil that has to undergo treatment before commencing the process of
transesterification. The stages for the crude oil in the process include neutralization to remove
phosphates. This involves the use of various chemical products and requires a system of
centrifugal cleaning and a process of separation. The oil is then given the white color to remove

suspended pigments of oil, phosphates, and soap. This is performed through dragging of oil and
filtration.
Oil Purification
Purification of the extracted oil is performed through boiling the oil in water, sedimentation or
through filtration.
Transesterification
This is now the actual process of transforming the vegetable oil (fatty acid, alkyl ester) in raw
form into biodiesel. Production of biodiesel from bio lipids (biological fats and oils) is compost
of some basic routes.
 Direct transesterification of the bio lipid acid.
 Supercritical Methanol Novel Non-catalytic transesterification
 Bio lipid transesterification catalyzed by base conducted under atmospheric pressure and
temperature of around 60 to 70 0C.
The most preferred method is the transesterification process catalyzed by the base and the steps
followed for the processing include:
1. Ensure the heated oil attain the temperature of around 60 to 70 0C. This facilitates a rapid
reaction process. The reaction is very slow at room temperature and can take long while
above 70 0C, the reaction is impeded.
Conduct a titration for the extracted oil (calculate the amount of sodium hydroxide to be added)
to determine the percentage free fatty acid account for in the oil. First, the vegetable oil is
combined with methanol and mixed, then a mixture of water and sodium hydroxide is added to

complete reaction of the free fatty acid. To ascertain that all the free fatty acids have reacted, the
pH is checked if it is 9 to verify the complete reaction. Actual vegetable oil extracted from
feedstock will bear a somehow similar level of titration, therefore, it is necessary to confirm
every batch. Used vegetable oil extracted from feedstock will depict great variations, thus
titration should be conducted for every batch by adding 1g of the oil and topping up with
distilled water to make a solution of 1 000 ml.
2. Sodium hydroxide, which is a catalyst, is added to Methanol to form methoxide. The
volume of used methanol to that of oil should be 20%. The reaction involves more
dangerous chemicals and the product itself, methoxide, being the worst(Nisar et al.2017).
The chemicals should therefore not get in touch with the skin, neither do the resulting
vapors from the reaction be inhaled. When operating on such chemical, proper
ventilation, goggles, and gloves should be acquired. Dissolving sodium hydroxide in
methanol is a slow process, it is, therefore, advisable to turn on the mixture to agitate
methanol as sodium hydroxide is slowly poured into it. When the sodium hydroxide
particles become invisible, methoxide can then be added to the oil, a reaction that takes
around 20 to 30 minutes(Sulistyo, Almeida and Dias 2015).
3. Allow the mixture to settle with glycerol at the bottom parts since it has high density than
biodiesel and then drain it. The process of settling usually starts immediately, but the
solution should be left for 8-12 hours to ensure that all glycerol settle. The approximate
volume of glycerol to the volume of original oil should be 20%.
4. The biodiesel is then washed to remove the remains of sodium hydroxide (the catalyst) as
well as other impurities.

Ethical Consideration
Even though achievements which are made in the field of fuel production may be great, there is a
need to consider the moral impacts of similar projects. The attention will, therefore, be focused
on hazards which are related to the production of fuel from Jatropha Curcas. The collected data
from the field during the research work should be utilized beyond classwork. They should be
integrated with other measures of hazard management which are already in existence. Some of
the hazards to be solved may include the pollution effects considering that biodiesel fuel will still
be a product of carbon(Kamel et al.2018).
Also, it is important to note the aggregate nature of the information. Although the project may be
treated with the highest priority which it deserves, pioneers may forget the intricacies as well as
the potential risk of such specific demonstration concerning information sharing. It will,
therefore, be the responsibility of project handlers to ensure members are properly educated
before conventionally accepting to dissimulate the information. Nevertheless, it will be very
important to ensure that they are properly protected and act cautiously while processing similar
information(Raia et al 2017).
Outline of the proposed Study
Materials
1. Alcohol
2. Catalysts such as Potassium hydroxide
3. Drying Units
4. Steaming Machine Units
5. Cooling machine
6. Cutting and Separating machine

7. Drying Machine
8. Kernel Cooling Unit
The product which is required or desired will include ethyl esters or methyl esters of fatty acids
that are contained initially in the oils or fats. Salts and Glycerin are also obtained as byproducts.
Such products may be used as raw materials in the industries which handle chemicals. Most of
the pharmaceutical industries will prefer using glycerin while salts of potassium will be used in
fertilizer production(Dharma et al.2016).
Estimates of the Budgets
It is estimated that the budget will generally consume the cost as shared below:
S.no Particular Items Number of the
required Units
of items
Cost/unit (AUD) Total
cost (AUD) per
item
1 Drying Units 24kg 10 240
2 Steaming
Machine Units
4kg 2 8
3 Cooling machine 5kg 80 400
4 Cutting and
Separating
machine
3 200 600
5 Drying Machine 5 150 750
6 Kernel Cooling
Unit
2 250 500
7 Peeling Unit
Machine
3 300 900
8 Grading and
Packaging
Equipment
1 500 500

Total 5658
Gantt chart
March
2019
April
2019
May
2019
June
2019
July
2019
August
2019
September
2019
Research and Preliminary Studies
Literature review
Proposal Writing
Class Presentation
School Presentation
Material Acquisition
Fabrication
Set up and Testing
Additional modification
Final Report Write Up

Final Presentation
REFERENCES
Dharma, S., Masjuki, H.H., Ong, H.C., Sebayang, A.H., Silitonga, A.S., Kusumo, F. and Mahlia,
T.M.I., 2016. Optimization of the biodiesel production process for mixed Jatropha curcas–Ceiba
pentandra biodiesel using response surface methodology. Energy Conversion and
Management, 115, pp.178-190.
Kamel, D.A., Farag, H.A., Amin, N.K., Zatout, A.A. and Ali, R.M., 2018. Smart utilization of
jatropha (Jatropha curcas Linnaeus) seeds for biodiesel production: Optimization and
mechanism. Industrial crops and products, 111, pp.407-413.
Marutani, M., Soria, J.A. and Martinez, M.A., 2018. Characterization of Crude and Biodiesel
Oils of Jatropha curcas and Calophyllum inophyllum in Guam. Micronesica, 1, p.15.
Mehmood, T., Naseem, A., Anwar, F., Iqbal, M. and Shaheen, M.A., 2019. Jatropha curcas L.: A
Non-food Oil Source for Optimized Biodiesel Production. Journal of the Chemical Society of
Pakistan, 41(3), pp.458-458.

Nisar, J., Razaq, R., Farooq, M., Iqbal, M., Khan, R.A., Sayed, M., Shah, A., and ur Rahman, I.,
2017. Enhanced biodiesel production from Jatropha oil using calcined waste animal bones as a
catalyst. Renewable Energy, 101, pp.111-119.
Odetoye, T.E., Afolabi, T.J., Bakar, M.A. and Titiloye, J.O., 2018. Thermochemical
characterization of Nigerian Jatropha curcas fruit and seed residues for biofuel
production. Energy, Ecology and Environment, 3(6), pp.330-337.
Raia, R.Z., da Silva, L.S., Marcucci, S.M.P. and Arroyo, P.A., 2017. Biodiesel production from
Jatropha curcas L. oil by simultaneous esterification and transesterification using sulfated
zirconia. Catalysis Today, 289, pp.105-114.
Sulistyo, H., Almeida, M.F. and Dias, J.M., 2015. Influence of synthetic antioxidants on the
oxidation stability of biodiesel produced from acid raw Jatropha curcas oil. Fuel processing
technology, 132, pp.133-138.
Teo, S.H., Goto, M. and Taufiq-Yap, Y.H., 2015. Biodiesel production from Jatropha curcas L.
oil with Ca and La mixed oxide catalyst in near supercritical methanol conditions. The Journal of
Supercritical Fluids, 104, pp.243-250.
Zhou, Q., Zhang, H., Chang, F., Li, H., Pan, H., Xue, W., Hu, D.Y. and Yang, S., 2015. Nano
La2O3 as a heterogeneous catalyst for biodiesel synthesis by transesterification of Jatropha
curcas L. oil. Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 31, pp.385-392.