LOOFAH (LUFFA CYLINDRICA, L.) BIODIESEL AS FUEL FOR DIESEL ENGINE

O.O. Oniya^a,*, A.I. Bamgboye^b

^aDepartment of Agricultural Engineering, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso ^bDepartment of Agricultural Engineering, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

E-mail: toyinprayer@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT

This study focussed on biofuel properties of biodiesel from loofah oil. Loofah oil was transesterified in a two-step transesterification process to produce ethyl-esters and glycerol. Biofuel properties of ethyl-esters were determined using ASTM Standards and compared with that of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO). Ethyl-ester yield of 80.0% was obtained from loofahoil. Same specific gravity of 0.88 was obtained for raw loofah oil and its ethyl ester was 1.023 times that of AGO. Higher viscosity at 40ºC (25mm²/s and 43.4mm²/s) was obtained for loofah ethyl ester and raw loofah oil respectively compared to 2.95 mm²/s obtained for AGO. Lower heating value (28.75 MJ/l) was obtained for loofah ethyl-ester compared to 30.2 MJ/l and 44.68 MJ/l obtained for raw loofah oil and AGO respectively. Lower amounts of sulphur, 9.13% for loofah ethyl ester and 10.41% for raw loofah oil than the reference AGO which was 61.8% were recorded. Higher pour (3ºC for both biofuels), cloud (7ºC and 8ºC) and flash (86ºC and 79ºC) points were obtained for loofah ethyl ester and the raw oil, respectively, compared to -16ºC, -12ºC and 74ºC respectively obtained for AGO. Loofah oil contained 76.46% of unsaturated fatty acids. Loofah ethyl ester had better fuel quality than raw loofah oil and fuel properties which are close to ASTM standards for diesel engine fuels.