Production and Analysis the Properties of Mahua Methyl Ester

Abstract

Chemically, the methyl ester is mono-alkyl esters of long-chain fatty acids derived from raw vegetable oils. Transesterification is a chemical process between triglycerides of vegetable oil and alcohol (i.e. methanol or ethanol) in the presence of a catalyst to obtain methyl or ethyl ester and glycerol as by-product. In this work, the extraction process adopted to obtain biodiesel from mahua seed oil and analyse the properties of mahua methyl ester (MME). For transesterification process, ethanol and KOH catalysts were used. After extraction of MME, analyse the thermo-physical properties and compared with diesel fuel. Also analyse the Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Gas Chromatography (GC) and Thermo-Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) were conducted.