ARS | Publication request: Preparation of Jojoba Oil Ester Derivatives for Biodiesel Evaluation

Submitted to: Annual Meeting and Expo of the American Oil Chemists' Society
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: February 2, 2009
Publication Date: May 3, 2009
Citation: Shah, S.N., Sharma, B.K., Moser, B.R., Erhan, S.Z. 2009. Preparation of Jojoba Oil Ester Derivatives for Biodiesel Evaluation [abstract]. Annual Meeting and Expo of the American Oil Chemists' Society. p. 80.

Technical Abstract: As a result of the increase in commodity vegetable oil prices, it is imperative that non-food oils should be considered as alternative feedstocks for biodiesel production. Jojoba oil is unusual in that it is comprised of wax esters as opposed to the triglycerides found in typical vegetable oils. A variety of alkyl esters (methyl, ethyl, isopropyl, and 2-ethylhexyl) of jojoba oil were prepared in an effort to study the effect(s) of ester head group chain length on fuel properties of jojoba oil-based biodiesel. Important fuel properties were measured, such as kinematic viscosity, cloud point, pour point, cold filter plugging point, acid value, oxidative stability, and lubricity, and compared with soybean oil methyl esters and relevant biodiesel fuel standards such as ASTM D6751 and EN 14214. Jojoba oil alkyl esters displayed superior low temperature properties and inferior kinematic viscosities versus soybean oil methyl esters. Blends (B5 and B20) of jojoba oil alkyl esters in ultra low sulfur diesel fuel (ULSD) were also evaluated for the above mentioned fuel properties and compared to the corresponding soybean oil methyl ester blends and relevant petrodiesel fuel standards such as ASTM D975 and D7467. Blends of jojoba oil alkyl esters in ULSD display improved low temperature properties in comparison to neat ULSD and the analogous soybean oil methyl ester blends. The type of ester head group influenced jojoba oil alkyl ester fuel properties, both neat and blended with ULSD. In summary, jojoba oil has enormous potential as an alternative feedstock for biodiesel production.