Physicochemical characterization of biodiesel from vegetable oils

Biodiesel was synthesized from vegetable oils by base-catalyzed transesterification with methanol in the presence of NaOH. The optimization of experimental parameters was established to achieve the maximum yield of product. The physical and fuel properties of biodiesel like dynamic viscosity, kinematic viscosity, acid number, density, flash point, cetane number, cloud point and pour point were determined and found comparable to ASTM standards. Prepared biodiesel was chemically characterized by FT-IR, NMR (1H & 13C) and GC-MS to elucidate the identification, quantification and chemical composition. The synthesis of biodiesel was confirmed by comparison of FT-IR and NMR (1H & 13C) analysis of oil and biodiesel. GC-MS analyses identified the chemical compositions of FAMEs in biodiesel and were verified by retention time data and mass fragmentation pattern.