TRANSESTERIFICATION OF HURA CREPITANS OIL FOR BIODIESEL PRODUCTION

This work focused on the transesterification of Hura crepitans oil and the determination of the suitability of the oil and its ethyl ester to power a diesel engine. Hura crepitans oil was transesterified in a two step transesterification process using ethanol and potassium hydroxide to produce ethyl ester (biodiesel). The fuel properties of Hura crepitans oil and its ethyl ester were determined and compared with that of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO). The results showed that the biodiesel yield was 80.5% after transesterification. The flash point, cloud point, pour point, specific gravity at 15 o C, viscosity at 40 o C, heating value, acid value, ash content, sulphur content, free fatty acid, peroxide value, iodine value and pH of the oil was obtained as 72.60 o C, 7.40 o C, 3.12 o C, 0.864, 2.870 mm 2 /s, 48.90 MJ/I, 19.074 MgKOH/g, 0.104%, 30.75%, 0.9588, 0.061 Meq/KOH, 0.940 wijis and 3.50 respectively. The fuel properties of Hura crepitans biodiesel were obtained as follows; specific gravity at 15 o C was 0.884, viscosity at 40 o C was 3.420 mm 2 /s, acid value was 6.732 mgKOH/g, peroxide value was 0.021 Meq/KOH, Sulphur content was 8.74%, cloud point was 75.10 o C, flash point was 94.60 o C, free fatty acid was 0.3304, pH was 3.30, heating value was 38.74 MJ/I. The result showed that Hura crepitans biodiesel can be used to power a compression ignition engine.