Extraction of vegetable oil from avocado seeds for production of biodiesel

Abstract

The avocado seed was used as a raw material for the production of biodiesel as an alternative to petrodiesel. The oil was extracted using a soxhlet extractor with n-hexane as the solvent and transesterified with methanol (5:1 oil to methanol ratio) using potassium hydroxide as catalyst in 15 minutes reaction time. The percentage yield of the purified biodiesel was 78%. The physical and chemical properties of the biodiesel on comparison to standard biodiesel and petroleum diesel indicated that it was of good quality. It had a relative density of 0.86, cetane number of 62.2, kinematic viscosity of 3.94cst. The economies of this extraction turns avocado seed from bio-waste to wealth.

Keywords: Avocado Seed, Soxhlet extractor, Biodiesel, Oil Characterization, Yield