Biodiesel production from supercritical carbon dioxide extracted Jatropha oil using subcritical hydrolysis and supercritical methylation

This study investigates supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) extraction of triglycerides from powdered Jatropha curcas kernels followed by subcritical hydrolysis and supercritical methylation of the extracted SC-CO2 oil to obtain a 98.5% purity level of biodiesel. Effects of the reaction temperature, the reaction time and the solvent to feed ratio on free fatty acids in the hydrolyzed oil and fatty acid esters in the methylated oil via two experimental designs were also examined. Supercritical methylation of the hydrolyzed oil following subcritical hydrolysis of the SC-CO2 extract yielded a methylation reaction conversion of 99%. The activation energy of hydrolysis and trans-esterified reactions were 68.5 and 45.2 kJ/mole, respectively. This study demonstrates that supercritical methylation preceded by subcritical hydrolysis of the SC-CO2 oil is a feasible two-step process in producing biodiesel from powdered Jatropha kernels.