Towards a village-scale biodiesel processing of Jatropha curcas in the Philippines

Issue Date

4-2008

Abstract

The potential commercial production of Jatropha methyl ester (JME) or biodiesel in the Philippines has gained much interest from both local and foreign investors due to the perceived low feedstock cost. Since the production of biodiesel from the oil of Jatropha curcas in the Philippines is relatively new, processing was studied to evaluate many technical aspects, including the investment requirement for village-scale production. Results indicate that in JME production, oil-to-alcohol-to-catalyst ratio ranges from 1:8:0.2 to 1:8:0.5, with reaction time ranging from75 minutes to 4 hours. Methyl or ethyl esters produced range from 98.03 to 99.42% pure, for beyond the proposed Philippine National Standard (PNS) of 96.5%. Volumetric productivity per ton of seed is estimated to be 266 to 310 L of Jatropha biodiesel for seeds containing 30 to 35% oil, respectively. The capital requirements for establishing a basic 1000-L-per-day village-scale Jatropha biodiesel plant is estimated to be ₽4.5 million. Aside from the potentials, the paper also points out several concerns about Jatropha biodiesel production in the country.

Source or Periodical Title

Philippine Journal of Crop Science

ISSN

0115-463x

Volume

33

Issue

1

Page

59-68

Document Type

Article

Frequency

tri-quarterly

Physical Description

tables, chart

Language

English

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