Biodiesel production from vegetable oil mixtures: cottonseed, soybean, and castor oils

In order to assess the possibility of carrying out transesterification reactions for biodiesel production from oil mixtures, the methanolysis of mixtures of castor oil with soybean oil or cottonseed oil have been investigated. Such transesterification have been used to produce biodiesel The addition of cottonseed oil or soybean to castor oil betters the purification process of the biodiesel produced when compared to that produced from pure castor oil. In the investigation, there was a tendency toward slight decreasing yields at higher reaction times than 70% and reached values in terms of total yields comparable to those from individual oils. It was found that the biodiesel produced in the transesterification reaction has physico-chemical properties, directly linked to the characteristics of the vegetable oils from which it was produced.