Utilization of agro-residue and oil containing crops is an important parameter for the development of agro-industry, pharmaceutical industry and most importantly, energy sector. In search of alternative and eco-friendly sources of fuel, biofuel is one of the promising fields that attracted enormous attention from researchers all over the world. Bangladesh is a land of biomass and natural resources. But still sufficient and complete research on biofuel production through utilization of these resources is not performed systematically. Shorea robusta, commonly known as Sal, is the major plant of Sal forest which covers about 10% of the total forest land of Bangladesh. In this study, fuel property of the sal seed was predicted from its proximate and ultimate analysis. Oil was extracted from the seed by soxhlet extraction with n-hexane. The oil percentage of the seed with cover and kernel was found to be 15.39% and 20.16%. Fatty acid composition of the oil, analyzed by GC-FID, detected the presence of stearic acid, oleic Acid, arachidic acid and palmitic acid at a percentage of 49.38%, 34.69%, 8.56% and 7.35% respectively. Elemental analysis exhibited C=75.87%, H= 39.22%, N= 3.59%, S= 0.078%. Different physico-chemical parameters like acid value, iodine value, saponification value, peroxide value, refractive index, viscosity were also determined. Thermogravimetric analysis of the seed and oil was carried out to analyze pyrolysis and combustion behavior. The temperature was maintained from room temperature to 600oC. In each analysis, three distinct phases were found in the thermogram. The first phase indicated the removal of moisture from the seed or oil, second phase showed the decomposition of triglycerides or volatile matters and the third phase denoted the removal of non-volatile material. As percentage of oil is satisfactory and the seed is quite abundant, Shorea robusta seed oil can be a very promising feedstock for commercial biodiesel production in Bangladesh.

Fuel property assessment of Shorea robusta seed and oil from physico-chemical properties and thermal analysis

2019 Spring National Meeting

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