An innovative way to enhance the production of “biodiesel” from “Jatropha” seeds in Egypt
Jatropha cultivation has recently gained momentum in Egypt, using wastewater in the desert areas of Upper Egypt and the New Valley. The jatropha plant is a non-food crop. It is grown in semi-arid lands. It lives in the ground for 50 years and is spread as a crop for producing environmentally friendly alternative energy.
The African climate is the best dry tropical climate for producing this plant, by exploiting vast desert lands.
By focusing on Jatropha seeds, known for their tolerance to drought, rapid growth, and high oil content, a research team from Benha University in Egypt sought to enhance the productivity and efficiency of biofuel production from Jatropha seeds.
The researchers succeeded in increasing the production of bio-oil and bio-diesel from Egyptian Jatropha seeds by using the latest ultrasonic and microwave pre-treatment methods, and the results were published in the latest issue of the journal Scientific Reports.
The researchers used the latest ultrasonic and microwave pre-treatment methods (Benha University)
Globally, the area planted with jatropha is about 900,000 hectares, including 760,000 hectares in Asia, 120 hectares in Africa, and 20,000 hectares in Latin America, according to the study.
All desert areas in the Upper Egypt and New Valley governorates in Egypt are suitable for Jatropha cultivation, and the area of these marginal lands cultivated with Jatropha in Egypt currently amounts to 844 hectares, according to researchers.
Biodiesel fuel
Biofuels, of all types, are defined as sustainable energy that is classified as a major player in renewable energy sources, in light of the increasing interest in searching for environmentally friendly sources of fossil fuels.
Among the types of biofuels, there is interest in biodiesel, which is oil extracted from plants and used as an alternative to petroleum diesel or mixed with it in cars and industrial fleets with diesel engines.
Soha Amin Abdullah, a researcher participating in the study from the Department of Agricultural Engineering and Biosystems, Faculty of Agriculture, Benha University, says: “Biodiesel is a liquid obtained through chemical processes from vegetable oils or animal fats, and it can be used in diesel engines alone or mixed with With 20 percent conventional diesel fuel.”
She added to Asharq Al-Awsat that “biodiesel has many advantages as an alternative to diesel fuel, most notably that it comes from a renewable source, is low in toxicity, and has the ability to decompose, in addition to its low emissions and low health risks, as it does not contain dioxide.” Sulfur is an air polluting gas that results from burning fossil fuels, including coal, oil and gas.
Biodiesel can be extracted from rapeseed oil, palm oil, coconut oil, sunflower oil or non-edible oils such as jatropha and castor.
In addition to its use as biofuel, jatropha oil is an important source for the production of biodiesel in Egypt as a sustainable product. Because it can be grown in different conditions, it is a renewable oil that does not compete in the food market, according to Soha Amin. She added that what also distinguishes biodiesel from Jatropha seeds is that its combustion temperature is very close to the combustion temperature of regular diesel fuel, and it is also environmentally friendly, as it is sulfur-free and biodegradable.
Extraction methods
Jatropha oil can be extracted from seeds in several ways, such as mechanical methods such as cold pressing and hot pressing, in addition to extraction using solvents, but modern methods rely on extraction using ultrasonic waves to break the plant cell walls and increase the extraction of oil from the seeds.
The Jatropha plant, which belongs to the Euphorbia family, produces a large amount of oil from its seeds. This oil is inedible due to the presence of a compound that is toxic to humans, and thus the oil has become a very attractive source of biodiesel fuel.
The oil content in Jatropha seeds ranges from 30 to 50 percent of the weight of the seed and ranges from 45 to 60 percent of the weight of the kernel itself.
The results of the study demonstrated that the highest productivity of jatropha bio-oil reached (25.1 percent) at an extraction temperature of 120 degrees Celsius and a screw speed of 60 rpm.
Regarding the use of ultrasound and microwave pre-treatment methods, the study added that the improvement rate amounted to 5.03 percent as a result of microwave treatment and 6.75 percent for ultrasound.
Finally, the results concluded that producing 1 kg of biodiesel requires 1.1 kg of crude oil. In addition to producing biodiesel, the jatropha plant has many beneficial properties, such as its use in producing cleaning materials, cosmetics, dyes, organic fertilizers, and various medicines. Its leaves are also used as fodder for silkworms, among other uses, and it is a fast-growing tree that is easy to reproduce.