Biodiesel from minor vegetable oils like karanja oil and nahor oil

Abstract

The present study investigated the scope of two minor vegetable oils, i.e. karanja (Pongamia glabra) oil and nahor (Mesua ferrea L., Guttiferae) oil, as raw material for biodiesel fuel. The distilled fatty acid methyl esters obtained from karanja oil and nahor oil have the following characteristics: cetane indices 56.2, 54.6; heat of combustion (kcal/mol) 8.26, 8.39; flash points (°C) 134, 142; cloud points (°C) 8.3, 6.1, respectively. All these properties of the distilled methyl esters reveal that karanja oil and nahor oil can be suitably used as cheap raw material for the synthesis of biodiesel.