Ultrasound Assisted In Situ Esterification of Rubber Seeds Oil for Biodiesel Production (RESEARCH NOTE)

Since the conventional esterification method requires longer processing time and obtain low yield, the intensification of this process is still interesting subject to be investigated. To reduce the oil extraction cost from seeds which almost 70% of total processing cost, in situ esterification has been recently introduced. The objective of study was to produce biodiesel from rubber seeds oil through in situ esterification and assisted by ultrasound irradiation. The experiment was carried out in two stages of catalyst additions: H2SO4 (varied from 0.1-1% v/v) and NaOH (0.1%) and the esterification had been conducted at 60oC for 30 minutes. The results showed that the optimum yield of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) was 35% with variable of rubber seed ratio to methanol 1:1.75 (w/v), catalyst H2SO4 1% and catalyst KOH 0.1%.