Studies were conducted at Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad, India by fabricating mini oil expeller to find out the effect of variation in compression ratio of the oil chamber and speed of the screw shaft on oil recovery and also energy consumption during oil extraction of Pongamia and Jatropha seeds. A mini oil expeller was developed with adjustments for variation in compression and speed. The compression ratio varied from 14:1 to 21.5:1 and the speed from 35 to 65 rpm during the experiment. Interactive effect of these two parameters on oil expulsion was critically observed and compared with conventional expeller. Compression ratio has shown significant effect on oil recovery and energy consumption.
Oil recovery, Specific energy consumption, compression ratio, jatropha biodiesel, pongamia biodiesel
