International Research Journal of Advanced Engineering and Science ISSN (Online): 2455-9024 148 Sri Kurniati, Sudjito Soeparman, Sudarminto Setyo Yuwono, and Lukman Hakim, “Characteristics and Potential of Nyamplung (Calophyllum inophyllum L.) Seed Oil from Kebumen, Central Java, as a Biodiesel Feedstock,” International Research Journal of Advanced Engineering and Science, Volume 3, Issue 4, pp. 148-152, 2018. Characteristics and Potential of Nyamplung (Calophyllum inophyllum L.) Seed Oil from Kebumen, Central Java, as a Biodiesel Feedstock Sri Kurniati 1 , Sudjito Soeparman 2 , Sudarminto Setyo Yuwono 3 , Lukman Hakim 4 1 Electrical Engineering Department, Science and Engineering Faculty, University of Nusa Cendana, Kupang, Indonesia 2 Mechanical Engineering Department, Engineering Faculty, Brawijaya University, Malang, Indonesia 3 Department of Agricultural Product Technology, Faculty of Agricultural Technology, Brawijaya University, Malang, Indonesia 4 Department of Chemistry, Engineering of Natural Sciences, Brawijaya University, Malang, Indonesia Abstract—Biodiesel is a fuel that is clean, biodegradable, non-toxic and has low emissions. These conditions provide benefits to the environment, where the use of biodiesel has the potential to reduce pollution levels. Calophyllum inophyllum L. or Nyamplung seed is one type of plant that has the potential to be processed into biodiesel. The potential non-edible feedstock for biodiesel is currently being considered carefully for the purpose of continuing biodiesel production while not having a negative impact on the food issue. In this study, the production of biodiesel from Nyamplung oil using electromagnetic-induction has been investigated. The crude Calophyllum inophyllum oil has a free fatty acid value which is above 2%. Therefore, a pre-treatment acid catalyzed esterification process is required to reduce the free fatty acid (FFA) content. It was found that Calophyllum inophyllum oil was at a ratio of 6:1 M (methanol to oil) with a fairly short heating at 65 0 C for 1.2 minutes in the presence of 2% KOH to obtain a lower acid value and the yield of methyl esters produced 40.31%. The results are shown that the improvement in biodiesel properties by using two stages of esterification method. The main characteristics of fuels such as viscosity, density, and FAME meet American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) biodiesel standards. Keywords—Crude oil, esterification, transesterification. I. INTRODUCTION Considering the increasing nature of global energy demand, rising oil prices and concerns about the side effects of fossil fuels on renewable environmental resources have attracted major research interest. Economic competitiveness, environmental factors, and technical reliability are important characteristics of green energy resources. Mitigating carbon dioxide and being an identical substitute for petroleum diesel without the need for further modifications to the engine are the two main advantages of biodiesel. Regarding the use of alternative fuels, some researchers have treated several plants that can be processed into fuel instead of diesel or gasoline. Generally, biodiesel is a liquid fuel that is processed from plants such as jatropha oil (jatropha curcas) [1-8], palm oil [9-12], soybean oil [13-17], and soursop seed [18]. In addition, one of the potential biodiesel plants is Calophyllum inophyllum or Nyamplung (in Indonesia) [19-21]. Calophyllum inophyllum L.belongs to the clan of Calophyllum which is spread throughout the world such as, Madagascar, East Africa. In Indonesia, Nyamplung is spread from West Sumatra, Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, Lampung, Java, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku, to East Nusa Tenggara and Papua. The advantage of Nyamplung as biofuel is that the seeds have a higher yield than other types of plants (40-60% fence distance, 46- 54% oil palm, and 40-74% coverage), and their use does not compete with food interests [22]. Based on the prospect of development and other uses, Nyamplung plants grow and spread evenly naturally in Indonesia, easy regeneration and fruiting throughout the year which shows a high survival power to the environment. In addition, Nyamplung seed productivity (20 tons/ha) is higher than fence distance (5 tons/ha), palm oil (6 tons/ha) and other vegetable plants [23]. Nyamplung seeds have an oil content of 75% and unsaturated acids 71% [24]. This is obtained by pressing in the form of greenish yellow oil, similar to olive oil, with an aromatic smell and tasteless taste. It usually produces fruit twice a year and produces up to 100 kg and about 18 kg of oil [25]. In this work, the potential of Nyamplung seeds obtained from Kebumen in Central Java, Indonesia was analyzed. The main objective is to find out the characteristics and opportunities of Nyamplung seeds to be processed into biodiesel. This effort is done for developing the potential of natural resources that exist in this area. Moreover, important fuel properties were appraised and compared with ASTM and Indonesian National Standard (SNI) methods. II. EXPERIMENTAL 2.1 Materials Fig. 1 shows the dry seeds of Calophyllum inophyllum. Nyamplung oil having >17.77% of Free Fatty Acids (FFA), (Fig. 2) was supplied from Kebumen, Central Java, Indonesia. Fig. 1. Dry seeds