Macauba as Promising Substrate for Crude Oil and Biodiesel Production

Abstract

The preparation of macauba fruits (Acrocomia aculeate (Jacq.) Lodd. ex Martius) both for oil extraction by continuous pressing and biodiesel production were investigated. The fruits and its pulp and kernel were characterized for their resulting oils. Experimental design was carried out to study the transesterification of each oil to obtain the concentrations of ethanol and catalyst that would provide the best biodiesel yield. A higher amount of biodiesel was produced from the best conditions to evaluate some characteristics as specified by ANP (National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels). The results showed a variation in the fruits composition and different characteristics presented by the pulp and kernel oil. It was possible to define technological steps to obtain oil from the fruits of macauba and find the optimal conditions to biodiesel production, concentration of catalyst 4.42% and 5% and 13.3:1 and 9:1 ethanol:oil molar ratio to kernel oil and pulp oil, respectively.