Enhancing the yield and quality of Kemiri Sunan crude oil by preliminary extraction of feedstock

Abstract

Biodiesel is an alternative fuel produced by chemical reaction between vegetable oil or animal fat with alcohol and catalyst. The preliminary treatment in extraction of biodiesel feedstock is an important process to obtain maximum yield of crude oil. This study aims to find optimal preliminary treatment on extraction of Kemiri Sunan seed in order to produce crude oil with maximum yield and quality. The research investigated the effects of screw press machine rotation and duration of steaming process. Three levels of duration of steaming used were 30, 60 and 90 minutes. Observations of crude oil yield, moisture content, free fatty acid content, kinematic viscosity, density and color were done. The result suggested that the rotation of screw press machine affected the crude oil yield. The duration of steaming process affected the oil yield, free fatty acid content, kinematic viscosity, density and color. The best oil yield result of 70.3% was obtained from the combination of heating duration of 60' and screw rotation of 25 RPM.