title: Croton megalocarpus oil: a feasible non-edible oil source for biodiesel production.
abstract: This study presents the feasibility of converting a non-edible oil source native to the Africa region -croton megalocarpus oil to methyl esters (biodiesel) using sulfated tin oxide enhanced with SiO(2) (SO(4)(2-)/SnO(2)-SiO(2)) as super acid solid catalyst. This study was conducted using design of experiment (DoE), specifically, response surface methodology based on three-variable central composite design (CCD) with alpha (alpha)=2. The reaction parameters studied are: reaction temperature (60-180 degrees C), reaction period (1-3h) and methanol to oil ratio (1:6-1:24). Although the oil was found to contain high free fatty acid, however, yield up to 95% was obtained without any pre-treatment step with the following reaction conditions: 180 degrees C, 2h and 15:1 methanol to oil molar ratio, while keeping constant catalyst concentration and stirring speed at 3 wt.% and 350-360 rpm, respectively.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tshwane University of Technology, Private Bag X680, Pretoria 0001, South Africa.
authors.forename: Gerald
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kafuku
authors.forename: Man Kee
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.forename: Jibrail
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kansedo
authors.forename: Keat Teong
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Makame
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mbarawa
mesh_terms: D056804:Biofuels / Q000032:analysis*; D002384:Catalysis; D020650:Combinatorial Chemistry Techniques; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003436:Croton Oil / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D008956:Models, Chemical
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D003436:Croton Oil