Transesterification of Jatropha oil using immobilized Pseudomonas fluorescens

Transesterification of vegetable oils is an important reaction that produces fatty acid alkyl esters, methyl and ethyl esters which are excellent substitutes for diesel fuel. Biodiesel prepared by catalyzed mild transesterification has become of much current interest for alternative fuel production. In the present study the ability of a commercial immobilized Pseudomonas fluorescens MTCC 103 to catalyze the transesterification of Jatropha oil and methanol was investigated. The cell of P. fluorescens was easily immobilized within the sodium alginate during batch process. The important parameters like reaction temperature, pH, oil/methanol molar ratio, amount of beads and reaction time was studied. From the study it was found that maximum yield of biodiesel was obtained at the optimum conditions of at 40 degrees C, pH of 7.0, molar ratio of 1:4, amount of beads of 3 g and reaction time of 48 h. The physical properties of the products were analyzed and the results were compared with conventional petroleum based diesel and it was found that the product can be used as an effective alternate fuel in existing diesel engine without any hardware engine modifications.