UTILIZATION OF RUBBER SEED FOR BIOFUEL AND PRICE-ADDED CHEMICALS SYNTHESIS

Author (s) : Dr.R. SUBBAIYA, Ms. S. SHENBAGAVALLI

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Abstract :
Rubber seed (RS) is one of the promising non-edible oil seed for biofuel synthesis. In this work RS comprises of 40‒48% shell and 52‒60% kernel by weight of seed was studied for fuel and value-added chemicals production. RS oil (RSO) from kernel was extracted by soxhlet extraction using various organic solvents. The effects of process parameters such as extraction time (3‒12h), kernel size range (0.5‒3mm), ratio of kernel to solvent (0.03‒0.09g/ml), and solvents (polar and non-polar) on extraction process were studied and optimized using response surface methodology (RSM).The optimum conditions for extraction which could produce 49.36wt% RSO yield were 0.08g/ml of kernel to hexane ratio and 1mm particle size at 8h extraction time. Further the extracted RSO was used for synthesis of methyl ester (biodiesel). Two steps procedure, esterification with catalyst H2SO4 followed by transesterification with Ba(OH)2•8H2Owas performed using ultrasonic technique. The effect of process parameters viz. catalyst loading, reaction time and molar ratio of methanol to RSO on esterification and transesterification reaction were studied. Maximum conversion RSO (~97%) was achieved at catalyst loading 5.38wt% with methanol to oil molar ratio 8.09:1 in 14min. Further, detailed thermogravimetricanalysis (TGA) and reactor pyrolysis of solid byproducts viz. shell and cake of the RS were conducted to study pyrolysis temperature range and for production of targeted liquid and solid products for fuel and chemical synthesis. Physico-chemical properties and composition of solid and liquid products were estimated to measure its suitability for biodiesel, chemical and fuel production.

Keywords : Solvent extraction, RSM, RSO, biodiesel, transesterification, TGA, pyrolysis

Conference Date : 13/11/2020

Pages : 120

Paper ID : 20120