Production of biodiesel from Vietnamese Jatropha curcas oil by a co-solvent method

Abstract Biodiesel fuels (BDFs) was successfully produced from Vietnamese Jatropha curcas oil with high content of free fatty acids (FFAs) in two stages. In the first stage, the esterification process was carried out with the optimal conditions as follows; a methanol-to-FFAs molar ratio of 6:1, 1 wt% H 2 SO 4 , at a temperature of 65 °C, and using 30% (wt/wt) acetonitrile as co-solvent. This step reduced the concentration of FFAs in the reaction mixture from 15.93 to 2 wt% in 60 min. In the second stage, the transesterification process generated fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) with 99% efficiency was performed in 30 min with the optimal conditions as follows; a methanol-to-oil molar ratio of 6:1, 1 wt% KOH, at a temperature of 40 °C, and 20% (wt/wt) acetone as co-solvent. The produced biodiesel quality meets the standards JIS K2390 and EN 14214 regarding FAME yield, FFAs and water contents.