Unconventional vegetable oils as raw materials for biodiesel production

Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine the possibility of using the unconventional vegetable oils for the biofuel production. The research material were cold-pressed oils from the seeds of milk thistle, hemp and evening primrose. After conducting the initial physicochemical characteristics of oil samples, including the determination of sulphur content, acid number, viscosity at 40°C, density at 15ºC, oxidation stability and fatty acid composition, analysed oils have been subjected to the transesterification process. The roduced methyl esters were further characterized by the above-mentioned features. Additionally, the temperatures of cold filter plugging point, cloud point and flash point were determined. On the basis of the conducted analyses it was demonstrated that the obtained oils, due to the high, far in excess of acceptable, values of the viscosity and density, and too low oxidative stability could not be used as a pure fuel. A similar conclusion was formulated in case of the produced methyl esters.