Production of Biodiesel from Calabash Seed Oil

Biodiesel has gained support and recognition as a fuel to replace and blending agent with fossil diesel. In search of non-edible seed oil feedstock that can be used for biodiesel production, an investigation was carried out with calabash seed oil. This is the type of calabash used by Arugungun fishers and Fulani women fresh cow milk hawkers. The seed yielded 39.3% oil by mechanical press. The oil was transesterified with methanol using heterogeneous catalyst (magnesium oxide supported by alumina) with catalyst loading of 0.6, 0.8, 1.0, 1.2 and 1.4% (w/w of oil) at 60ºC for 60 minutes. The products had esters content of 90.43, 77.92, 93.64, 96.00 and 83.48% respectively. The viscosity falls between 5.0 and 5.7 mm2/s which is within ASTM and EN standards. The biodiesel yield of 61.8, 62.3, 69.7, 69.5 and 78.1% were also recorded. This oil can be a potential for biodiesel production.