Cooking fuel from Jatropha Curcas feedstock: An experiment based techno-economic analysis

Jatropha Curcas is a promising feedstock for biofuel production, which can be grown in tropical and subtropical regions globally. Utilization of oil produced from the Jatropha seed can reduce the use of common cooking fuels in developing countries such as firewood, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Thus, many developing countries including Nepal are promoting Jatropha-based biofuel production plants. However, before the commercial establishment of such a facility, a thorough techno-economic analysis is required. Thus, this study conducted a techno-economic analysis of a commercial-scale Jatropha oil production facility with a nameplate capacity of 23.87 million liter/year. Jatropha seeds collected from different regions of Nepal were used to determine the oil yield and other required input materials for the oil extraction process. Thermal efficiency of a conventional kerosene stove blending with Jatropha oil was also determined. These experimental data and other data associated with process equipment collected from the literature were used to conduct the techno-economic analysis. The estimated Jatropha oil costs ($/L) with and without oil cake revenue were 0.64 and 0.76, respectively. Additionally, Jatropha oil production cost ($/L) including oil cake revenue at 90% confidence interval was 0.38-1.02. Feedstock cost, oil yield, oil cake revenue, and plant size were the most sensitive parameters to oil production cost. Further, thermal efficiency of 38.8 +/- 0.18% was obtained when 20% (v/v) Jatropha oil was blended with kerosene and the efficiency was inversely proportional to blending ratio. Overall, 20% (v/v) Jatropha oil-kerosene blend could be a viable cooking fuel for developing countries. (c) 2016 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd