SCREW PRESS PERFORMANCE FOR OIL EXTRACTION FROM JATROPHA CURCAS L. SEEDS OF DIFFERENTMOISTURE CONTENT

This article describes an extraction experiment conducted to investigate the performance of a screw press oil outlet chamber positions on the amount of oil extracted from Jatropha curcas L. seeds of different moisture content. The oil extracted from the jatropha seeds was measured at seven different positions of the screw press. The result showed that maximum amount of oil was produced at the screw press positions 3, 4, 5 and 6; whiles at positions 2 and 7; minimum amount of oil was realized. There was no mass flow of oil at screw press position 1. Also jatropha seeds with low moisture content produced greater amount of oil compared to seeds with high moisture content. Temperature measurement at the screw press positions during the extraction process increased from 20 °C to 68 °C, which suggests that more heat was generated which could have an effect on the oil. In conclusion, it was found out that moisture content and screw press equipment are important factors that could influence the oil output