Characterization and assessment of Jatropha curcas and Moringa oleifera husk and their potential use in gasification

Tropical plants Jatropha curcas and Moringa oleifera produce non-edible oil seeds which can be considered as feedstock to produce biodiesel. Along the processing steps, several by-products are produced. This work is focused on the thermochemical use of Jatropha and Moringa husk in order to increase the overall value chain of their utilization. Comprehensive characterization studies and their assessment for calorific utilization are quite limited in the literature. The scope of the paper is a comprehensive fuel characterization based on the results, with focus on thermochemical utilization pathways. Proximate analysis shows that Jatropha and Moringa husk have low moisture content (9.19 and 6.25%, respectively) and ash (< 5%) and high content of volatile components. Higher values of C, N and S for M. oleifera in comparison with J. curcas husk were obtained. M. oleifera seed husk shows the highest LHV (20.83 MJ kg−1). The ash melting analysis of husk shows melting points above 1500 °C. By simulation of the gasification process, the LHV, the amount of gas producer and energy output are estimated. The energy produced by simulation of gasification demonstrates that it is enough to cover the energy needs involved in a biodiesel facility with capacity of 800 L of biodiesel per day.