Department of Geography.

Valahia University of Targoviste

Annals of Valahia University of Targoviste. Geographical Series
Tome 15/2015 Issues 1: 68-74
http://fsu.valahia.ro/images/avutgs/home.html

DETERMINING THE MOISTURE CONTENT OF JATROPHA SEEDS, IODINE VALE

AND PEROXIDE VALUE OF JATROPHA OIL
Fazal Um Min ALLAH1
1Faculty

of Mechanics,Craiova, Romania
Str. Calea Bucharest Nr. 107 Cod. 200512 Dolj, Tel: 0251-543739
E-mail:fazaluminallah@hotmail.com

Abstract
To make Romania less dependant on conventional energy resources, it has to increase the market share of
biofuels. Jatrophais a plant whose extracted oil is used to produce biodiesel. The oil properties are essential
for determining its quality. For this purpose, we determined moisture content of jatropha seeds by moisture
balance. Iodine value is determined according to the standard SR EN ISO 3961: 2002. Peroxide value is
determined by Hara-Totani method. A comparative analysis of properties with existing fuel practices shows its
suitability for transport sector.
Keywords: jatropha, oil properties, comparative analysis, transport.

1 INTRODUCTION
1.1. Romanian transport and biofuels

Romania has agricultural land to grow edible and non-edible crops to produce biofuels. It
has potential to export biofuels to other European nations. Currently, its transport sector depends
heavily upon conventional energy resources (Olteanu, 2009). Romania has to increase renewable
energy mix in its fuel market keeping in view land availability and food security. Consumption of
fuel in Romanian transport sector is shown in the Figure.1.

Figure.1. Share of fuel mix in road transport sector of Romania

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Major share of fuel mix in Romanian road transport sector is conventional energy resources
which include gasoline, diesel and natural gas. This results in GHG emissions. GHG emissions in
Romania for transport sector are shown in the Table 1.
Year
2000
2005
2010
2011
2012

Table.1. GHG emissions in Romania

GHG Emissions (Million
GHG Emissions (Million Tonnes
Tonnes of CO2 Equivalent)
of CO2 Equivalent) in Transport
Sector
134.1
10.2
141.3
13.1
115.8
14.8
121.5
15.0
118.8
15.5

An increasing trend of GHG emissions can be followed in the Table.1 (EU transport book.
2014). This increase in emissions of GHG can cause health hazards and climate change. To counter
these problems EU has decided to reduce these emissions upto 40% by 2030 (Hof et al. 2012).
Romaniais already using biofuels from edible resources. These resources increase the fuel security
at the risk of decreasing food security. To avoid this problem it has to concentrate its efforts on nonedible feedstock for biofuels.
1.2. Jatropha for Romania

Jatropha is a plant which grows under tropical and subtropical environmental conditions. It
has characteristics of making milky soap. Its seeds are used for oil extraction. This oil is further
processed to make biodiesel (Pradhan et al 2009; Pradhan et al 2014). Numerous projects of
jatropha cultivation are undergoing in Africa, Asia and Latin America. These projects seem to be
viable economically (FACT foundation, 2010; GEXI LLP, 2008). For experimental purposes
jatropha seeds are imported from Thailand. Its oil is extracted by solvent extraction method.
Jatropha fruit, seeds and extracted oil are shown in Figure.2.

Figure.2. Jatropha fruit (photo by Arthur Riedacker), seeds and fresh extracted oil

Marginal landsare available in Romania for jatropha cultivation. A thorough research is

needed for adoptability of climate conditions and the genetics of seeds. A site is selected near
Craiova for experimental plantation of jatropha seeds.

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1.3. Jatropha oil as fuel

Vegetable oils with high energy content or calorific value can directly be used as substitute
to diesel fuel (Misra&Murthy, 2010). Jatropha oil has higher density and viscosity than diesel fuel.
These higher values can cause problems in injection system. This problem can be resolved by
preheating of jatropha oil from waste heat of exhaust gas (Chauhan et al. 2010; Raheman et al.
2014). The jatropha oil is also used to produce biodiesel. A chemical reaction with methanol in the
presence of sodium hydroxide will result in biodiesel.
Biodiesel + Glycerin
Moisture content of seeds is important parameter to determine the oil yield. Physical and
chemical properties of oil are very important in determining its quality (Rodiriguez et al. 2011;
Worang et al. 2008). In this paper moisture content of jatropha seeds, iodine value and peroxide
value of jatropha oil are determined. A comparative analysis of these proper with existing biofuel
practices is also given in this paper.
2 MATERIALS AND METHODS
2.1 Moisture Content of Jatropha seeds

Jatropha seeds are imported from Thailand. Moisture analyzer MX-50 is used to determine
the moisture content of jatropha seeds. The sample of jatropha seeds is placed in the balance and
operating temperature is increased with equal intervals. The apparatus is shown in the Figure.3.

Figure 3. Determining the moisture content of jatropha seeds

2.2. Iodine value

Iodine value is used to represent the total degree of unsaturation in vegetable oils. The
iodine value of extracted jatropha oil is determined according to the standard SR EN ISO
3961:2002. 0.25ml of jatropha oil sample is taken in Erlenmeyer flask. 10cm3 of chloroform
solution is added as solvent. A burette is used to further add up 25cm3 of Hanus solution. A titration
is then performed with sodium thiosulphate until the solution seemed to be yellowish. A titration is
again performed with starch solution until solution appeared to be blue. Meanwhile blank tests are
performed with the same amount of solvent and Hanus solution in the absence of fats. Iodine value
is calculated by following expression.

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Where,
V1= Thiosulphate Volume during titration of blank test
V2= Thiosulphate volume during titration of test without fats
m = Mass f sample
n = Normality of thiosulphate.
2.3 Peroxide value

Peroxide value is used to determine the stability of vegetable oils. 20ml sample of extracted
jatropha oil is taken into a conical bottle to determine peroxide value by Hara-Totani method (Hara
& Totani, 1988). 10ml of chloroform isdissolved into this solution. Then 15ml glacial acetic acid is
added into it. 0.3ml of saturated KI solution is added after replacing air by CO 2. Then solution is
cooled by putting it in iced water bath. 100ml of cold distilled water is added into the solution. A
titration is then performed with the solution of sodium thiosulphate solution keeping the vial in ice
bath. A potential change at the equivalence moment is noticed during the titration blank test is
performed without oil with the same volume of sodium thiosulphate until equivalent point will not
exceed 0.15ml. Index value is calculated in terms of milliequivalents of peroxide oxygen/kg lipid
using the Equation.2.
(2)
Where,
V1 = Number of ml 0.001N sodium thiosulphate solution used for titration of sample to be
analyzed.
V2 = Number of ml 0.001N sodium thiosulphate solution used in blank titration
m = Mass of jatropha oil sample
F = Factor solution 0.001N sodium thiosulphate
N = Normality of 0.001N sodium thiosulphate
3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

The results obtained from the methods explained above are summarized in the Table.2.
Table 2. Properties of jatropha seeds and oil
Property
Units
Value
Moisture content of seeds
Percentage
Iodine value of jatropha oil
mgIod/g of oil
Peroxide value of jatropha oil mEO2/kg of oil

6.4%
104
13.1

Moisture content is an important parameter in determining the quantity of oil which can be
obtained from the seeds. It depends upon the duration of storage of seeds. The previous studies
showed that moisture content of seeds is directly related with its weight, bulk density and kernel
density. It increases with the increase of these parameters (Dharmaputra et al. 2008; Bamgboye &
Adebayo 2012). A mathematical relationship was found between moisture content and physical
properties of jatropha seeds. These properties include thousand fruit mass, surface area, bulk
density, true density, porosity, angle of repose, crushing strength and static coefficient of friction
(Naik et al. 2009) .

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Iodine value of jatropha oil increases with the increase of number of double bonds presence.
A graphical comparison of between iodine values of non-edible jatropha oil and edible oils is given
in the Figure. 4.

Figure 4. Comparison between Iodine values of vegetable oils

Iodine value is important parameter to determine the presence of double bonds. It has direct
relationship between calorific value of fuel and emissions of engine. Lower iodine value represents
the better quality of fuel. ASTM has established the limit of iodine value as 120 for biodiesels. The
experimental value of jatropha oil is within the limits of ASTM6751 and EN14214 biodiesel
standards. Increase in the iodine value indicates the increase in viscosity of oil. This increase in
viscosity can cause problems in injection of diesel engine. The problem can be solved by preheating
of transesterification of jatropha oil (Blin et al. 2013).
Peroxide value indicates the stability of oil to the oxidation. Its value is related with the
degree of oxidation of oil. The unstable hydroperoxide forms the secondary oxides. This depends
upon the oil contact with air. Hydroperoxides are formed in the presence of oxygen at ambient
temperature.This oxidation level can be termed as peroxide value. Furthermore this process results
in formation of aldehydes. The storage time and conditions can increase the peroxide value
(Verhelst et al. 2011).This value has an impact on calorific value and Cetane number of the fuel.
Two samples are shown the Figure. 5. One of the samples is oxidized oil and other is fresh extracted
oil.

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Figure 5. Oxidized oil (left) and fresh extracted oil (right).

Another parameter to define the oxidation stability is oxidation stability index. This
indicates the time interval in minutes between the conductibility and sudden increase in formation
of volatile acids (Dwivedi & Sharma, 2014). The usage of oxidized oil in diesel engine can cause
poor lubrication and damage of filters. Oxidized oil also has higher value of viscosity which can
cause damages in injection and combustion chamber. A better storage facility and extraction
technique can help in tackling these problems.
4. CONCLUSION

Romanian transport sector is heavily dependent upon conventional energy resources. This
consumption of conventional energy leads towards higher GHG emissions. These emissions can be
reduced by using biofuels as road transport fuel. Romania is already producing these biofuels from
edible resources to meet EU targets. Usage of these biofuels faces the problem of land availability
and food security. This problem can be solved by adopting non-edible biofuels for road transport.
Jatropha is one of non-edible feedstock for producing biodiesel. Moisture content of jatropha seeds,
iodine value and peroxide value of jatropha oil are important parameters to determine its potential
for usage in diesel engines.
Moisture content of jatropha oil is measured by MX-50 moisture balance. Its value is
determined as 6.4%. The moisture content varies with the storage conditions and duration. The
iodine value is determined as 104mgIod/g according to the standard SR EN ISO 3961:2002. The
iodine value of jatropha oil indicates slightly higher values of density and viscosity. Higher values
for density and viscosity can cause problems in the injection of diesel engines. This parameter also
representspresence of free fatty acid in oil. Peroxide value of jatropha oil is higher than diesel fuel.
This higher value shows its stability and storage capacity.
Large scale adoption of jatropha oil as fuel requires further research. A small scale
plantation and improving the genetics of jatropha seeds under local climatic conditions can help in
further understanding of its suitability as fuel for road transport. Governmental, educational and
industrial support is required to make this energy plant as marketable product in the fuel market.

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5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The apparatus is taken from faculty of chemistry and experiments are performed with the
help of laboratory staff at faculty of Mechanics. So their cooperation in performing the experiments
is acknowledged.

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