Biosynthesis and Characterization of Biodiesel from Cottonseed Oil Using Pseudomonas fluorescences Lipase and the Performance of its Blend (B20) in diesel Engine

K. Karuppasamy, A. Syed Abu Thaheer and C. Ahmed Basha

Abstract
Lipase-catalyzed alcoholysis of vegetable oils has attracted significant interests in the production of biodiesel. Present work deals with biosynthesis and characterization of biodiesel from cottonseed oil using Pseudomonas fluorescences lipase and the performance studies of the blend B20 (contains 20 % biodiesel and 80 % diesel). Response Surface Methodology based Box-Behnken design was used to optimize the transesterification reaction variable – Ethanol/oil molar ratio, catalyst loading and reaction time for production of ethyl esters. The optimized conditions for biodiesel production were found as follows: ethanol to oil molar ratio: 7 mol/mol, catalyst loading: 6 g, and reaction time 68 h. The optimum biodiesel yield was 93.5 %. Properties such as flash point, fire point, density, viscosity and calorific values of biodiesel B20 and diesel were compared. B20 fuel was tested in a single cylinder, four stroke, direct injection, constant speed, compression ignition diesel engine (Kirloskar) to evaluate the performance and emissions.

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Keywords
Cottonseed oil, Pseudomonas fluorescences lipase, transesterification, response surface methodology, biodiesel, performance and emission parameters