Production of Biodiesel from Candlenut Oil Using a Two-step Co-solvent Method and Evaluation of Its Gaseous Emissions

Candlenut oil (CNO) is a potentially new feedstock for biodiesel (BDF) production. In this paper, a two-step co-solvent method for BDF production from CNO was examined. Firstly, esterification of free fatty acids (FFAs) (7 wt%) present in CNO was carried out using a co-solvent of acetonitrile (30 wt%) and H2SO4 as a catalyst. The content of FFAs was reduced to 0.8 wt% in 1 h at 65°C. Subsequent transesterification of the crude oil produced was carried out using a co-solvent of acetone (20 wt%) and 1 wt% potassium hydroxide (KOH). Ester content of 99.3% was obtained at 40°C in 45 min. The water content in BDF was 0.023% upon purification using vacuum distillation at 5 kPa. The components of CNO BDF were characterized using a Fourier-transform infrared spectrometry and gas chromatography-flame ionization detector. The physicochemical properties of BDF satisfied the ASTM D6751-02 standard. The gaseous exhaust emissions from the diesel engine upon combustion of the BDF blends (B0–B100) with petrodiesel were examined. The emissions of carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons were clearly lower, but that of nitrogen oxides was higher in comparison to those from petro-diesel.