Suitability of safflower oil as feedstock for biodiesel production

Abstract

Biodiesel is a clean burning fuel produced from grease, vegetable oils or animal fats. Biodiesel is produced by transesterification of oils with short chain alcohols or by the esterification of fatty acids. The transesterification reaction consists of transforming triglycerides into fatty acid alkyl esters, in the presence of an alcohol, such as methanol or ethanol, and a catalyst, such as an alkali or acid, with glycerol as by-product. Because of diminishing petroleum reserves and the deleterious environmental consequences of exhaust gases from petroleum diesel, biodiesel has attracted attention during the past few years as a renewable and environmentally friendly fuel. Since biodiesel is made from vegetable oil or animal fats, it is renewable and biodegradable. However, the vegetable oil and alcohol must be substantially anhydrous and have low free fatty acid content, because the presence of water or free fatty acid or both promotes soap formation. In this article the authors have discussed the scope of diversifying safflower for biodiesel apart from its use as edible oil and the characteristics of biodiesel obtained from safflower as feed stock.