New non-edible Allanblackia parviflora seed oil as an alternative feedstock for biodiesel production and characterization of the fuel

This study is aimed at producing biodiesel from Allanblackia parviflora seed oil as a new non-edible alternative resource. The amount of oil extracted from the seeds was approximately 49% and was mainly composed of linoleic acids (66.68). The Allanblackia parviflora methyl esters (APME) were prepared using NaOH as a homogeneous base-catalyst for the transesterification. The rate of conversion of the triglycerides to methyl esters was determined using Gas Chromatograph with an optimum yield of 97.1%. The conditions under which this maximum yield (97.1%) was obtained include methanol to Allanblackia parviflora oil ratio of 6:1, reaction temperature of 60 celcius, NaOH concentration of 1% and reaction time of 2 h. The properties of the methyl esters were comparable to fuel properties of conventional diesel using ASTM and European Union standards. The seeds of Allanblackia parviflora can be described as promising non-edible resource.