Analysis of chemical properties for biodiesel derived from crude palm oil

Abstract

High biodiesel purity (98.86% to 99.54%) has been achieved using cooking oil, which undergoes various purification stages before being sold. This inherent purity contributes to the high biodiesel purity produced during solvent-aided crystallization (SAC). This study aims to investigate the performance of SAC using unpurified oil as the feedstock for crude biodiesel preparation. Crude palm oil (CPO) was used as the feedstock, and the effects of crystallization temperature (6, 8, 10, 12, and 14°C), crystallization time (20, 25, 30, 35, and 40 min), and shaking speed (32, 43, 61, 71, and 84 rpm) were measured. The highest biodiesel purity achieved was 99.05% at 6°C crystallization temperature, 30 min crystallization time, and medium shaking speed. Additionally, all samples met international standards EN 14214 and ASTM D6751 for chemical properties, including iodine and acid value analysis. These results suggest that SAC is an effective method for producing high-quality biodiesel from less refined feedstock, potentially lowering production costs and expanding the range of viable raw materials for biodiesel production.