Avaliação das propriedades do óleo de jatropha curcas L. para a produção de biodiesel

Abstract

The depletion of oil-based fuel reserves has sparked the interest in producing cleaner, lower-cost energy. In this thesis, we investigated the feasibility of applying the oil of Jatropha curcas L. grown in the country for the biodiesel production. Physical and chemical analyzes were carried out and the following results were obtained: determination of the physical characteristics of the seeds, 2.8% moisture was obtained, 1.9cm in length of the seed, 1.2cm in width, bark percentage 38.3%, albumen 60.8%, the oil content extracted by Soxhlet was 48.5%; in relation to oil to humidity was 0.29%, acidity index 0.95mg / g, percentage of free fatty acids 0.67%, saponification index 193.3mg / g, peroxide index 6.98meq / kg, index of iodine 103.19 g / 100g, viscosity 29.1 mm 2 / s at 40 ° C, density 912.2 kg / m 3 at 25 ° C, content ash 0.003%, negative cold test, fog point -5 ° C, freezing point <−13 ° according to gas chromatography it was possible to verify that the oil is more constituted by unsaturated fatty acids corresponding to 80.9% and weakly by saturated and finally the oxidation index was obtained through the fatty acid profile equal to 0.39%. It was concluded that this raw material meets all the conditions for its application in the biodiesel production process.