In-situ Transesterification of Jatropha curcas L. Seeds for Biodiesel Production using Supercritical Methanol

Abstract

In-situ supercritical methanol transesterification for production of biodiesel from Jatropha curcas L. (JCL) seeds was successfully being carried out via batch-wise reactor system, under varying temperatures of 180 - 300 °C, pressures of 6 - 18 MPa, reaction time of 5 - 35 min and seeds-to-methanol ratio of 1:15 - 1:45 (w/v). In this study, the extracted oil obtained showed the presence of FAME referring as biodiesel, indicating that transesterification reaction had occurred during the extraction process. The results showed that the biodiesel yield was obtained at optimum conditions of 280 °C, 12 MPa, 30 min and 1:40 (w/v) were 97.9%.