Production of biodiesel using a vegetable oil from Swida wilsoniana fruits

Abstract

Energy demand is increasing dramatically due to the fast industrial development, rising population, expanding urbanization, and economic growth in the world and large amount of fossil fuels are widely used. The depletion of fossil fuel reserves and the environmental pollution caused by burning of fossil fuels stimulate development of alternative fuels. Biodiesel today is the most popular and promising biofuel and vegetable oils are one of the potential feedstocks for biodiesel production. In order to explore the wild oil plant sources in China, the fruit oil of Swida wilsoniana, a wild woody oil plant widely distributed in the mountainous regions of calcareous sandstone, was used to produce the biodiesel by transesterification method. The reaction parameters were optimized by an orthogonal experimental design. The results showed that Swida wilsoniana fruit oil (SWO) could be conversed to biodiesel at a wide range of reaction conditions. The optimum conditions for the reaction process were determined as: methanol/oil mole ratio 5:1, catalyst dosage 1.1%, reaction temperature 60 °C, and reaction time 120 min. The characteristics of Swida wilsoniana biodiesel (SDBD) were analyzed, which was similar to that of 0# diesel. Moreover, SDBD has the advantages of higher flash point (>105) and lower ash content (<0.003). Therefore, SDBD is a safe and clean biodiesel and a promising alternative biofuel.