Calophyllum inophyllum L. - A prospective non-edible biodiesel feedstock. Study of biodiesel production, properties, fatty acid composition, blending and engine performance

Recently, non-edible oil resources are gaining worldwide attention because they can be found easily in many parts of the world especially wastelands that are not appropriate for cultivating food crops, eliminate competition for food, more efficient, more environmentally friendly, produce useful by-products and they are more economical compared to edible oils. Jatropha curcas, Pongamia pinnata, Calophyllum inophyllum, Croton megalocarpus and Azadirachta indica are some of the major non-edible feedstocks for biodiesel production. This paper investigates the potential of Calophyllum inophyllum as a promising feedstock for biodiesel production. In this paper, several aspects such as physical and chemical properties of crude Calophyllum inophyllum oil and methyl ester, fatty acid composition, blending and engine performance and emissions of Calophyllum inophyllum methyl ester were studied. Overall, Calophyllum inophyllum appears to be an acceptable feedstock for future biodiesel production.