IGEC-DCCE2012-110 1 CEIBA PENTANDRA: A FEASIBLE NON-EDIBLE OIL SOURCE FOR BIODIESEL PRODUCTION A.S. Silitonga a,b *, T.M.I. Mahlia a,c , H.H. Masjuki a H.C.Ong a a Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Malaya 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia b Department of Mechanical Engineering,Medan State Polytechnic 20155 Medan, Indonesia c Department of Mechanical Engineering, Syiah Kuala University 23111Banda Aceh, Indonesia E-mail addresses: ardinsu@yahoo.co.id (A.S. Silitonga) Abstract It is believed that the demand for biodiesel is expected to increase in the near future. Edible oils are not sustainable biodiesel feedstocks to meet this increasing demand. This is because the world is currently confronted with a reported increase in the fuel prices and food scarcity caused by utilizing edible oils in biodiesel industry. Therefore, researchers around the globe are trying to search for new biodiesel feedstocks that are sustainable and do not create such problems. Recently non-edible oils have been regarded as promising feedstocks for future biodiesel production. Most of non-edible seeds bearing trees have the potentials of reclaiming wasteland and does not compete with food crop for limited gowing regions. This paper aims to study the opportunity of Ceiba pentandra as non-edible oil for biodiesel production. The distribution of this tree around the world has been presented. Crude Ceiba Pentandra Oil (CCPO) was collected from Cilacap, West Java, Indonesia. CCPO was found with a free fatty acid content of 7.69% which is above the 2%. Therefore, a degumming process was proceed to reduce impurities and change the color from the dark brown to yellow brown light and a two-step acid-base catalyzed transesterification has been used to produce biodiesel. In this study, Ceiba Pentandra Methyl Ester (CPME) was produced using H 2 SO 4 as acid catalyst and two times processes in the esterification process and NaOH as alkaline catalysts in the transesterification process. Moreover, the physic-chemical properties of biodiesel produced from this feedstock have been determined and compared with international biodiesel standards. It can be concluded that this feedstock can be considered as a possible source for biodiesel future. Keyword: Biodiesel, Non-edible oils, Ceiba pentandra, Distribution, Esterification, Transesterification, Free fatty acids, Physico-chemical properties. 1. Introduction The idea of running straight vegetable oils (SVO) to power an engine is not new. In fact, Mr. Rudolf Diesel designed the diesel engine to be fuelled by peanut oil 100 years ago. However, modern diesel engines are far different from the early prototypes. This makes vegetable oils unsuitable to be used directly in diesel engines. Biodiesel is defined as mono-alkyl esters of long chain fatty acids derived from a renewable lipid feedstock, such as vegetable oil or animal fat and alcohols with or without a catalyst produced by transesterification reaction which consists of a number of consecutive, reversible reactions. Recently, the application of vegetable oils as a source of biodiesel has become again more attractive because of its environmental benefits over fossil fuels, the fact that it is made from renewable resources, the recent increase in fossil fuels and the expected depletion of fossil fuels. Edible vegetable oils presently do not compete economically with petroleum-based fuels because they are more expensive. Recently several studies have regarded non-edible as promising feedstocks for future biodiesel production. Most of non-edible seeds bearing trees have the potentials of reclaiming wasteland and do not compete with food crop and therefore cannot increase food prices. Therefore it is a key factor to ensure the economic viability of biodiesel production [1, 2]. Singh [3] had reported that non-edible vegetable oils have lower price than edible vegetable oil. Considerable efforts have been made to develop non edible vegetable oil derivatives that approximate the properties and performance of hydrocarbons-based diesel fuels. Some of non-edible methyl ester (biodiesel) that have been investigated and discussed are Jatropha curcas, Pongamia pinnata, Calophyllum inophyllum, Hevea brasiliensis, Azadirachta indica, Madhuca indica, Sterculia feotida, Lesquerella fendleri, Ricinus communis L., etc [3-12]. Non- edible oils can be easily cultivated in many parts of the world and they have good oil content such as Azadirachta indica 40-50%, Calophyllum inophyllum 50-73%, Bombax malabaricum 18-26%, Ximenia Americana 49-61%,