Biodiesel production from wild mustard (Brassica juncea L.) seed oil through co-solvent method at room temperature

Abstract

Synthesis of biodiesel from a non-edible feedstcok, namely wild mustard seed oil was the essential target of this work. After oil extraction from the seeds with a yield of 34.0 wt.%, co-solvent alcoholysis of the oil with ethanol and mixed methanol/ethanol system at room temperature (32°C) was studied. Production of biodiesel from the said oil was accomplished via optimized protocol through investigating parameters affecting the biodiesel yield, such as the type of co-solvent, KOH concentration, molar ratio of alcohol/oil, volume ratio of co-solvent/alcohol and reaction period. Maximum ethylic and mixed methyl/ethyl esters yields were obtained under the optimal reaction conditions, and were foubd to be 93.44 and 95.12 wt.%,respectively. The 1HNMR spectroscopy measurements confirmed the conversion of the oil into biodiesels. Besides, fuel properties offered by the fuels obeyed those fixed by ASTM D6751 standard.