High quality biodiesel fuel production from crude jatropha oil without upstream and downstream processing

Jatropha curcas oil has beenreceived much attention as a renewable source of biodiesel fuel with no competing food uses. Crude Jatropha oil hashigh contents of free fatty acid (FFA) andwater. FFA and water inthe raw oil significantly decrease the yield and quality ofthe product biodiesel in the industrial production process using the homogeneousalkali catalyst. Thus, the present production process is usually accompaniedby a refining processto remove FFA in the raw oil to less than 0.5 wt% and a dewatering process of the raw oil. In addition, the downstream purificationprocess to remove the by-products, such as soap and glycerin, from the biodieselis required to satisfy the fuel's quality requirements. These upstreamand downstream processes raise the production cost of the biodiesel fuel.