Production of biodiesel from Vernicia montana Lour. oil using a co-solvent method and the subsequent evaluation of its stability during storage

Abstract

The costs associated with the production of biodiesel fuel (BDF) are directly affected by the nature of the feedstock material and the methods used during the production process. In Southeast Asia, many non-edible oils are used to produce BDFs, as exemplified by the recent use of the non-edible oil derived fromVernicia montanaLour. in Laos and Vietnam for the production of BDF. In this work, we developed an improved procedure for the production of BDF fromVernicia montanaoil consisting of 80.3%±0.5% α-eleostearic acid moiety (C18:3) using a co-solvent method. Furthermore, the stability of the BDF was evaluated based on its iodine value and unsaturated ester content. The optimized production conditions were determined to be as follows: methanol/oil molar ratio of 6:1, 1% (wt/wt) KOH, 20% (wt/wt) acetone as a co-solvent, and a reaction temperature of 40°C. Under these conditions, we achieved a BDF conversion efficiency of 99%±0.3% within 30 min of initiating the transesterification process. Notably, the BDF produced fromVernicia montanaoil showed good stability to air at temperatures ≤30°C for 1 month, showing similar stability properties to the BDF produced from rapeseed oil.