Investigating “Egusi” (Citrullus Colocynthis L.) Seed Oil as Potential Biodiesel Feedstock

Biodiesel’s acceptance as a substitute for fossil-derived diesel has grown the world over. However, the food-fuel debate over conventional vegetable oils has rekindled research interest in exploring lesser known and minor oil crops. In this work, egusi melon seed oil was studied for the first time a...

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Main Authors:	Solomon, Giwa, Abdullah, Luqman Chuah, Adam, Nor Mariah
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	2010
Online Access:	http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/11080/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/11080/

id	upm-11080
recordtype	eprints
spelling	upm-110802011-03-25T06:44:41Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/11080/ Investigating “Egusi” (Citrullus Colocynthis L.) Seed Oil as Potential Biodiesel Feedstock Solomon, Giwa Abdullah, Luqman Chuah Adam, Nor Mariah Biodiesel’s acceptance as a substitute for fossil-derived diesel has grown the world over. However, the food-fuel debate over conventional vegetable oils has rekindled research interest in exploring lesser known and minor oil crops. In this work, egusi melon seed oil was studied for the first time as a potential feedstock for biodiesel production. Crude egusi melon seed oil was transesterified using sodium methoxide as the catalyst at 60 °C and an oil/methanol ratio of 1:6 to produce its corresponding methyl esters. Egusi melon oil methyl ester (EMOME) yield was 82%. Gas chromatographic analysis of EMOME showed that it was composed mainly of palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic and linolenic esters, which is similar to the profile of sunflower, soybean and safflower oil. All the measured fuel properties of EMOME satisfied both the ASTM D6751 and the EN 14214 biodiesel standards. Fuel properties of EMOME were essentially identical with those of soybean, safflower and sunflower biodiesel. Remarkably, the kinematic viscosity of EMOME was measured to be 3.83 mm2/s, a value lower than most biodiesel fuels reported in the literature. The potential of egusi melon seed oil as a biodiesel feedstock is clearly presented in this study. 2010 Article PeerReviewed Solomon, Giwa and Abdullah, Luqman Chuah and Adam, Nor Mariah (2010) Investigating “Egusi” (Citrullus Colocynthis L.) Seed Oil as Potential Biodiesel Feedstock. Energies, 3 (4). pp. 607-618. ISSN 996-1073 10.3390/en3040607 English
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	Universiti Putra Malaysia
building	UPM Institutional Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
description	Biodiesel’s acceptance as a substitute for fossil-derived diesel has grown the world over. However, the food-fuel debate over conventional vegetable oils has rekindled research interest in exploring lesser known and minor oil crops. In this work, egusi melon seed oil was studied for the first time as a potential feedstock for biodiesel production. Crude egusi melon seed oil was transesterified using sodium methoxide as the catalyst at 60 °C and an oil/methanol ratio of 1:6 to produce its corresponding methyl esters. Egusi melon oil methyl ester (EMOME) yield was 82%. Gas chromatographic analysis of EMOME showed that it was composed mainly of palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic and linolenic esters, which is similar to the profile of sunflower, soybean and safflower oil. All the measured fuel properties of EMOME satisfied both the ASTM D6751 and the EN 14214 biodiesel standards. Fuel properties of EMOME were essentially identical with those of soybean, safflower and sunflower biodiesel. Remarkably, the kinematic viscosity of EMOME was measured to be 3.83 mm2/s, a value lower than most biodiesel fuels reported in the literature. The potential of egusi melon seed oil as a biodiesel feedstock is clearly presented in this study.
format	Article
author	Solomon, Giwa Abdullah, Luqman Chuah Adam, Nor Mariah
spellingShingle	Solomon, Giwa Abdullah, Luqman Chuah Adam, Nor Mariah Investigating “Egusi” (Citrullus Colocynthis L.) Seed Oil as Potential Biodiesel Feedstock
author_facet	Solomon, Giwa Abdullah, Luqman Chuah Adam, Nor Mariah
author_sort	Solomon, Giwa
title	Investigating “Egusi” (Citrullus Colocynthis L.) Seed Oil as Potential Biodiesel Feedstock
title_short	Investigating “Egusi” (Citrullus Colocynthis L.) Seed Oil as Potential Biodiesel Feedstock
title_full	Investigating “Egusi” (Citrullus Colocynthis L.) Seed Oil as Potential Biodiesel Feedstock
title_fullStr	Investigating “Egusi” (Citrullus Colocynthis L.) Seed Oil as Potential Biodiesel Feedstock
title_full_unstemmed	Investigating “Egusi” (Citrullus Colocynthis L.) Seed Oil as Potential Biodiesel Feedstock
title_sort	investigating “egusi” (citrullus colocynthis l.) seed oil as potential biodiesel feedstock
publishDate	2010
url	http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/11080/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/11080/
first_indexed	2018-09-07T13:05:32Z
last_indexed	2018-09-07T13:05:32Z
_version_	1610954082100445184

Investigating “Egusi” (Citrullus Colocynthis L.) Seed Oil as Potential Biodiesel Feedstock

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