Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 3(3): 1623-1629, 2009 ISSN 1991-8178 Corresponding Author: N. Yusuf, Department of Petroleum and Chemical Engineering, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat Oman Email- nyusuf@squ.edu.om 1623 An Experimental Study of Biodiesel Synthesis from Groundnut Oil. Part I: Synthesis of Biodiesel from Groundnut Oil under Varying Operating Conditions. N. Yusuf and M. Sirajo 1 2 Department of Petroleum and Chemical Engineering, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat Oman 1 Department of Chemical Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria 2 Abstract: Biodiesel is gaining more and more importance as an alternative fuel due to the depleting fossil fuel resources. Chemically biodiesel is monoalkyl esters of long chain fatty acids derived from renewable feedstock like vegetable oils and animal fats. It is produced by transesterification in which oil or fat is reacted with a monohydric alcohol in the presence of a catalyst. In this research, biodiesel was produced from groundnut oil under varying operating conditions (considering only temperature, catalyst concentration and reaction time being more prominent factors affecting the reaction). The optimum temperature, catalyst concentration and reaction time were found to be 70 C, 1% (wt of oil) o and 1 hr respectively. Also propertiesthere should be comma in between viscosity, specific gravity and flash point of the biodiesel produced were investigated and the results obtained shows agreement with international standards. Part II of this paper will discuss the kinetics of the reaction. Key words: Biodiesel; Transesterification; Reaction conditions; Kinetics and Petrodiesel INTRODUCTION The world population is continuously increasing with an average annual growth rate of 1.17% and as such the demand for petroleum is increasing with each passing day (CIA, 2007). This may also be attributed to the limited resources of petroleum crude. In that case it becomes an utmost necessity to search for alternative fuels which are renewable. It is in line with this that the developed and now the developing world want future transport fuels and technologies that deliver lower toxic emissions, lower green house gases, greater efficiency of energy use, less dependence on foreign oil imports and affordable. Biofuel is now a major contributor to the economic growth of any nation that intends to be self reliant. According to petroleum economists, global diesel demand is likely to continue to grow at around 3% per year while demand for certain other refined production is likely to flatten and even decline (Tony, 2003). This brings about biodiesel to complement the extra need. Biodiesel is a cleaner burning fuel than diesel and a suitable replacement. It is made from non-toxic, biodegradable, renewable sources (vegetable oils and fats). Biodiesel can be produced in many ways (Chandrashekhar, 2007). The method used in laboratory is transesterification which is actually a replacement of alcohol group from an ester by another alcohol. This research work is aimed at optimising the production of biodiesel from groundnut oil through transesterification reaction and study some of the factors affecting its production in order to establish the kinetics of the reaction. Groundnut Production: Groundnut is the 13th most important food crop of the world. It is the world's 4th most important source of edible oil and 3rd most important source of vegetable protein. Groundnut seeds contain high quality edible oil (50% approx.), easily digestible protein (25%) and carbohydrates (20%). It is grown on 26.4 million ha worldwide with a total production of 36.1 million metric tons, and an average productivity of 1.4 metric tons/ha (Fukuda, 2001). Vegetable oils are mainly composed of fatty acids in the form of triglycerides. Triglycerides are fatty acid esters having three alkyl groups attached to a parent alkane (Propane in particular). The following table gives the fatty acid composition of groundnut oil on a percentage basis.