PA M A N TA S A N N G LU N G S O D N G M AY N I L A

Intramuros, Manila
College of Engineering and Technology
Chemical Engineering Department

PA M A N TA S A N N G LU N G S O D N G M AY N I L A
Intramuros, Manila
College of Engineering and Technology
Chemical Engineering Department

Background of the Study

Avocado is one of the Philippines agricultural crops. According to the Bureau

of Agricultural Statistics of the Department of Agriculture, the total land area used
for the planting of avocado is 4,753 hectares. The average annual production of
avocado was estimated at 45,884 tons where Bicol and Cagayan Valley are the
leading producing regions. The avocado seeds represent 13-18% by weight of the
fruit where it is only discarded. However, these contains triglycerides and has low
free fatty acid content, amounting to 0.367%. That makes avocado seed as a
suitable raw material for biodiesel production.
Biodiesel is known as a fuel derived from renewable resources for use in
diesel engines. According to Rao (2008), biodiesel is environmentally friendly liquid
fuel similar to petroleum diesel in combustion properties. As an alternative fuel,
biodiesel offers many advantages. It is derived from a renewable, domestic
resource, thereby relieving reliance on petroleum fuel imports. Compared to
petroleum fuel, biodiesel has a more favorable combustion emission profile, such as
low emission of carbon monoxide, particulate matter and unburned hydrocarbons.
Commonly, biodiesel is produced by transesterification, which refers to a
catalyzed chemical reaction involving vegetable oil and an alcohol to yield fatty acid
alkyl esters (biodiesel) and glycerol as by-product. On this study, avocado seed
undergoes pretreatment (which covers size reduction and drying). The avocado
seed oil is extracted using n-hexane as solvent and are distilled to purify the oil.
Degumming is the next step wherein it is used to refine the avocado seed oil using
phosphoric acid. The refined avocado seed oil will now undergo transesterification
using a base catalyst and methanol where biodiesel will be produced. The crude
biodiesel will be purified by water washing and are dried to yield the final product.
This study, Base-catalyzed Transesterification of Avocado Seed for
the Production of Biodiesel, aims to utilize the avocado seed waste to produce
a biodiesel.

Base-catalyzed Transesterification of Avocado Seed for the Production of Biodiesel

Baluyot, B., Cruz, P., De Guzman, K.A., DIZON, G.

PA M A N TA S A N N G LU N G S O D N G M AY N I L A
Intramuros, Manila
College of Engineering and Technology
Chemical Engineering Department

Base-catalyzed Transesterification of Avocado Seed for the Production of Biodiesel

Baluyot, B., Cruz, P., De Guzman, K.A., DIZON, G.

PA M A N TA S A N N G LU N G S O D N G M AY N I L A
Intramuros, Manila
College of Engineering and Technology
Chemical Engineering Department

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Avocado seed represents 13-18% of the fruit and it is a byproduct generally

not utilized. Normally, the seed is discarded during the processing of the pulp. The
seed waste may represent a severe ecological problem

PA M A N TA S A N N G LU N G S O D N G M AY N I L A
Intramuros, Manila
College of Engineering and Technology
Chemical Engineering Department

OBJECTIVES
General Objective
The main objective of this study is to produce biodiesel from a biomass such
as avocado seed via base-catalyzed transesterification.

Specific Objectives
This study also aims to:
1. Produce a biodiesel that conforms with the standard properties;
2. Determine the parameters that will yield the highest conversion of avocado
seed to biodiesel; and
3. Determine the heating value of the produced biodiesel.

PA M A N TA S A N N G LU N G S O D N G M AY N I L A
Intramuros, Manila
College of Engineering and Technology
Chemical Engineering Department

SCOPE AND LIMITATION

This study is focused only on the experimental scale production of biodiesel

derived from avocado seed oil. The experimental procedure will include the raw
material pretreatment (size reduction and drying), solvent extraction of avocado
seed oil, distillation, degumming to refine the avocado seed oil, transesterification
to produce crude biodiesel, and washing and drying of biodiesel.
Avocado seeds will be collected from a local market in Quezon City. The
experimentation will be conducted in the College of Medicine Laboratory. The
chemical reagents to be used for the experiment are purchased from RB
Chemodities, Sta. Cruz, Manila. The final product are to be tested in Adamson
University to determine the properties, especially the heating value, of the
produced biodiesel.

PA M A N TA S A N N G LU N G S O D N G M AY N I L A
Intramuros, Manila
College of Engineering and Technology
Chemical Engineering Department

RRL

PA M A N TA S A N N G LU N G S O D N G M AY N I L A
Intramuros, Manila
College of Engineering and Technology
Chemical Engineering Department

RRL

PA M A N TA S A N N G LU N G S O D N G M AY N I L A
Intramuros, Manila
College of Engineering and Technology
Chemical Engineering Department

METHODOLOGY

Raw Material Pretreatment

The avocado seed contains a significant amount of moisture, thus, drying is
needed so that the moisture content will not affect the following chemical reactions.
The avocado seed is oven-dried at 110 degrees Celsius. The dried avocado seed is
to be size reduced using a knife and a blender. This is done to increase the surface
area for reaction for the proceeding steps.

Oil Extraction
The oil from the dried and size-reduced avocado seed will be extracted using
n-hexane. The n-hexane and avocado seed mixture will be allowed to settle for 1
hour. The resulting mixture is filtered using a filter paper to remove the solids. The
liquid part contains the mixture of oil and n-hexane which are then subjected to
distillation to separate the oil and n-hexane.

Oil Degumming
To further refine the avocado seed oil, degumming is done. Phosphoric acid is
added to avocado seed oil. The mixture is heated to 50 degrees Celsius and is
continuously stirred for 30 minutes.

Transesterification
Refined oil from degumming will undergo transesterification, which is the
heart of the process for biodiesel production. Sodium hydroxide is the base catalyst
used. A sodium hydroxide solution and methanol is added to the oil. The
temperature and mass ratio of methanol to avocado seed oil are to be determined.

PA M A N TA S A N N G LU N G S O D N G M AY N I L A
Intramuros, Manila
College of Engineering and Technology
Chemical Engineering Department

Washing
Thee crude biodiesel produced from transesterification are to be purified
through water washing. The mixture of biodiesel and warm water is stirred for 5
minutes. The mixture is settled until it forms two layers, the top layer is the purified
biodiesel, and the bottom layer is the water with the impurities. A separatory funnel
is used to obtain the biodiesel.

Drying
Water may not be completely removed from the biodiesel, therefore, drying is
needed. The wet biodiesel is dried at 110 degrees Celsius.