A STUDY OF CATALYTIC CRACKING IN THE PRODUCTION OF SUPER CETANE BIODIESEL FROM JATROPHA CURCAS OIL

This study was aimed to study the method employed in the production of super cetane biodiesel from curcas bean ( Jatropha curcas ) oil. Its methodology included the production of curcas bean biodiesel by transesterification process, biodiesel cracking by H-zeolite catalyst. Characterization of the produced biodiesel from catalytic cracking included  saponification number, iodine number, and cetane number. Study findings indicated that the carbon chain breaking of biodiesel unsaturated fatty acid ester can be achieved by catalytic cracking reaction. This was evidenced by the increased saponification number and decreased iodine number of the curcas bean biodiesel after cracked. Analysis of biodiesel product after undergoing catalytic cracking process indicated an optimum temperature of 90 o C and optimum reaction time of 180 minutes. The produced biodiesel at these conditions had a saponification number of 206.332 mg KOH/g sample, iodine number of 60.11 mg iodine/g sample, and cetane number of 68.83. These findings showed that cetane number of curcas bean biodiesel could be increased by about 26.81% from 54.28 before cracking to 68.83 after cracking