TY - JOUR AB - The synthesis of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) as a substitute to petroleum diesel was investigated in this study from crude jatropha oil (CJO), a non-edible, low-cost alternative feedstock, using aluminium modified heterogeneous basic oxide (Mg-Zn) catalyst. The transesterification reaction with methanol to methyl esters yielded 94% in 6 h with methanol-oil ratio of 11:1, catalyst loading of 8.68 wt.% at 182 degrees C and the properties of CJO fuel produced were determine and found to be comparable to the standards according to ASTM. In the range of experimental parameters investigated, it showed that the catalyst is selective to production of methyl esters from oil with high free fatty acid (FFA) and water content of 7.23% and 3.28%, respectively in a single stage process. Thus, jatropha oil is a promising feedstock for methyl ester production and large scale cultivation will help to reduce the product cost. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. AD - Univ Sains Malaysia, Sch Chem Engn, Nibong Tebal 14300, Penang, Malaysia AN - WOS:000291194800003 AU - Olutoye, M. A. AU - Hameed, B. H. DA - Jun DO - 10.1016/j.biortech.2011.03.039 IS - 11 J2 - Bioresource Technol KW - crude jatropha oil LA - English N1 - 771xu PY - 2011 SN - 0960-8524 SP - 6392-6398 ST - Synthesis of fatty acid methyl ester from crude jatropha (Jatropha curcas Linnaeus) oil using aluminium oxide modified Mg-Zn heterogeneous catalyst T2 - Bioresource Technology TI - Synthesis of fatty acid methyl ester from crude jatropha (Jatropha curcas Linnaeus) oil using aluminium oxide modified Mg-Zn heterogeneous catalyst UR - ://WOS:000291194800003 VL - 102 ID - 17792 ER -