High Quality Biodiesel from Yellow Oleander (Thevetia peruviana) Seed Oil and Study of Fuel Properties of YOEE and Petrodiesel Blends

Biodiesels are drawing increasing attention across the world as a green alternative for petroleum-derived transportation fuels to help address energy cost, energy security and global warming concerns associated with fossil fuels. Biodiesel is a cleaner burning replacement for petroleum diesel fuel as it is nontoxic and biodegradable. Biodiesel can be used alone, or blended with petroleum diesel. The ‘B’ factor is used to state the amount of biodiesel blend in any petrodiesel fuel mix viz. B100, B5, B10, B20 etc. For the study, yellow oleander (Thevetia peruviana) seed oil is converted to yellow oleander ethyl ester (YOEE) biodiesel by transesterification reaction using a heterogeneous catalyst derived from the trunk of Musa balbisiana Colla (one variety of banana plant) in ethanol. The yield of biodiesel obtained is 94 wt % at room temperature (32°C) in reaction time of 3.5 hours. Various fuel properties YOEE and its blends with petrodiesel viz. B5, B10, B15 and B20 are studied and analyzed according to standard IP and ASTM methods.