Castor oil biodiesel as an alternative fuel for diesel engines

In this paper, a study related to the production and use of castor oil biodiesel is presented. The maximum methyl esters yield of the castor oil transesterification reaction is obtained under the following conditions: ambient temperature, a molar ratio of methanol to vegetable oil equal to 9 and a catalyst percentage equal to 0.8%. The castor oil biodiesel can be blended with petroleum diesel as far as 15% in such way that the resulting blend complies with national and international technical standards for diesel fuels. Its high viscosity becomes the main difficulty for using castor oil biodiesel in engines. However this biofuel exhibits excellent cold flow properties (low values of cloud and pour points). The motor tests using castor oil biodiesel/petroleum diesel blends, for the biodiesel proportion tested, show that a biodiesel percentage increase leads to an increase in the specific fuel consumption, a decrease in the fuel/air ratio, a slight decrease in smoke opacity, while the fuel conversion efficiency and the CO and CO2 emissions practically remain constants.