April 2011, Volume 2, No.

2
International Journal of Chemical and Environmental Engineering

Attacus ricinii (Eri) Pupae Oil as an Alternative

Feedstock for the Production of Biofuel
M. Sharma1 and M. Ganguly2*
1
Department of Chemistry, Pandu College, Guwahati, Assam
2
Department of Chemistry, Cotton College, Guwahati, Assam
* Corresponding author: ganguly_mausumi@rediffmail.com

Abstract
Eri silk is a fine quality silk obtained from the silkworms reared on castor leaves. It comprises of about 8% of the total silk produced
in India. It is produced as almost a household activity in certain parts of North-eastern India. The sericulture activities generate huge
quantities of the waste silkworm pupae after production of the silk from cocoons. The dumping of this huge waste poses a threat to the
environment of the locality. Recent studies have shown that these waste pupae contain 30% or more lipid. The lipid part of the waste
eri silkworm pupae can be transesterified with methanol to produce methyl esters of fatty acids. The present study reports a quick and
efficient transesterification method to convert the lipid to fatty acid methyl ester. The physicochemical properties of the methyl ester
are reported. The parameters fulfill the international requirement for biodiesel. Thus the present work shows that this bio-waste can be
converted to good quality fuels which may be used as biodiesel additives.

Keywords: Vapor Fed DMFC, Methanol Crossover Reduction

1. Introduction
The fast depletion of the fossil fuel reserve with
simultaneous increase in its demand and price has
initiated the worldwide search for alternative sources of
energy. The most practical and promising of all the
possible alternatives presently available is the biofuel
obtained from plant kingdom. Being renewable and
environment friendly in nature, biodiesel is at present the
best substitute for petro-diesel and is accepted worldwide.
Supplementing or replacing diesel with biodiesel not
only help saving fossil fuel, but also help fighting global
warming as it generates less CO and has less sulphur
content [1].
The choice of fat or oil to be used in the production of
biodiesel is based on its physico- chemical properties,
availability and cost of production and transportation.
Thus, free fatty acid (FFA), cetane number and iodine
value of triglycerides are the major chemical parameters
which are associated with the choice of oil. Oils with
higher FFA can produce soap as byproduct during
transesterification which requires further separation
making the process expensive. Hence a lower value of the
FFA is desirable. In the United States and other
developed countries biodiesel is produced mainly from
edible oils such as soybean, canola oil, sunflower oil,
palm oil, corn oil, waste cooking oil etc. Considering the
demand and high price of these edible oils in the
developing countries like India, their use in the
production of vehicular fuel alternative cannot be
justified. The search for cheaper alternatives from the low
cost non edible sources [2,3] has pointed out the
potentiality of using jatropha oil [4]. Recently, Mesua
ferrea plant has also been identified as a rich source of oil
with biodiesel compatibility [5]. Though there has been a
search for useful biodiesel source from the plant kingdom
[6,7], very little attempt has so far been made to utilize
the animal resources in India.
The north Eastern states of India, Assam in particular,
are known for the sericulture activities. Production of silk
is a common practice among quite a large section of
population in this region.
The host trees for sericulture grow abundantly in
Assam and North Eastern states of India as the climate
here is suitable for those plants. The sericulture activities
generate huge quantities of the waste silkworm pupae
after production of the silk from cocoons. Recent studies
have shown that the waste pupae contain 35-40% oil
alongwith many other essential nutrients. Most of the
waste pupae are used as fertilizer and a small amount is
used as poultry feed. The major difficulty in storing the
waste pupae is its bad smell and poor shelf life. The
dumping of the huge waste of the silk industries poses a
threat to the environment.
In this present work, an investigation of the fat
obtained from the waste pupae has been carried out to
assess its potential as biofuel. The oil is extracted from
the waste eri pupae by using Soxhlet apparatus and its
conversion to fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) via a base
catalyzed transesterification was investigated. The
transesterified product was examined and some quality
parameters were measured to establish its suitability for
use as biofuel. The study of the physicochemical
 properties of the oil and the methyl ester reveals that the Cetane number is the ability of fuel to ignite quickly
oil has biodiesel compatibility as most of the physical after being injected. Higher the cetane number is, better is
parameters are in conformity with the International the ignition quality of fuel [8]. Biodiesel standards of
biodiesel standards. USA (ASTM D6751), Germany (DIN 51606) and
European Organization (EN 14214) have set this as 47, 49
2. Material And Methods and 51 respectively. The methyl ester obtained from the
2.1 Oil extractaction from waste pupae oil of waste pupae meets this specification.
The waste pupae collected from eri production units LC-MS analysis shows that the FAME obtained from
were ground to fine powder and then dried for 2 h at the oil is free of soap and the triglycerides are mostly
80OC. Soxhlet apparatus was employed for extraction of converted to the monoglycerides. The fatty acid
seed oil using hexane as solvent. The temperature was composition of the methyl ester showed that it has little
kept in the range 65OC-70OC and the process was linoleic acid. The main fatty acids present in the oil are
continued for 24 h. The oil part was separated from the palmitic and stearic acid.
organic solvent by distillation. Yield was calculated on The yield of oil from waste eri pupae ranges from 30-
dry weight basis. 40% on dry weight basis and percent yield of biodiesel
produced is also fairly high (85%).The biodiesel yield
may be improved further by changing the reaction
2.2 Physicochemical properties of pupae oil
condition or the catalyst concentration [9].
The oil was examined in order to evaluate its potential
for use as a feedstock in biodiesel production. All the
Table I
parameters involved, like iodine value, saponification Physicochemical Properties Of Eri Pupae Oil
value etc., were determined by the traditional AOCS Parameters studied Pupae oil
(American Oil Chemists Society) methods. Cetane % yield 30%-40%
number was calculated theoretically [5]. Viscosity (35 OC)(cp) 33.6
Sp. Gravity (35 OC) 0.949
Water content (mg/g) 0.349
2.3 Transerterification
Saponification number (SN) 218
Alkali catalyzed transesterification of the oil was Iodine value (IV) 128
carried out in a round bottomed flask with methanol and pH 5.3
oil in 6:1 ratio using sodium hydroxide as catalyst. The FFA, KOH, mg/g 0.39
reaction was continued approximately at 60 OC for 2 h. Flash point > 200 OC
The liquid mixture was allowed to stand overnight to
allow the glycerol layer to separate from the methyl esters Table Ii
formed. Biodiesel is recovered after complete settling of Properties Of The Methyl Ester
Parameters studied EN 14214 limits
two liquid layers. The methyl ester layer was washed % yield 85%
gently using three volumes of warm deionized water to Kinematic Viscosity (35 OC)
6.53 3.5 - 5.00
remove the residual catalyst, glycerol, methanol and soap. (mm 2s-1)
Small amount of sulphuric acid (H2SO4) was used in the O
Sp. Gravity (35 C) 0.874 0.860-0.900
second washing to neutralize remaining soaps and other Iodine values (IV) 111 120 max
catalyst impurities. After washing out the byproduct the Cetane number (CN) 46.8 47 – 65
methyl ester is dried over anhydrous sodium sulphate pH 7.1 6.8 – 7.2
FFA, KOH, mg/g 0.229 0.5 max
(Na2SO4). The methyl ester layer was filtered to remove
Flash point > 120 OC 120 min
the trace of any solid left.

3. Results And Discussion
The physicochemical parameters of the oil extracted
from the waste pupae and those of the methyl ester
obtained after transesterification are presented below in
Table I & II. The internationally permitted levels (EN
14214) are also given in the table for comparison.
In this study the amount of water content of the oil
was low enough and free fatty acid value was found to be
0.39. The iodine value and cetane number of the FAME
were also found to be within the permissible range. The
degree of unsaturation, expressed in terms of the iodine
value, is another criterion for selection of biodiesel.
Presence of little unsaturated fatty acid component in
methyl enter is desirable as it restricts the FAME from
solidification to some extent.
4. Conclusions
The waste silkworm pupae contain high percentage of oil 30-40%.
Biodiesel can be produced from this oil.
On the basis of FFAs and water content in the oil, the
transesterification can be carried out using 6:1 molar ratio of methanol
to oil.
The ester formation takes place of 65 OC taking 1% KOH (by the
weight of the oil) at atmospheric pressure for 2 h reaction time.
All of the parameters determined for the methyl ester of the oil
comply with the European FAME standard EN14214.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This research work was carried out as a part of minor
project funded by the UGC, New Delhi.

124
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