Journal of Agricultural Technology 2012 Vol.

8(2): 657-662
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Technology 2012, Vol. 8(2): 657-662
ISSN 1686-9141

Economics of biodiesel production from Jatropha oil

Samodini S. Nevase1*, S.R. Gadge2, A.K. Dubey3 and B.D. Kadu4

1
Department of UCES and EE, Dr. PDKV, Akola (M.S.), India, 2Department of UCES and EE,
Dr. PDKV, Akola (M.S.), India, 3AEP, CIAE, Bhopal (M.P.), India, 4Jain Irrigation Systems
Pvt, Ltd., Jalgaon (M.S.), India

Samodini S. Nevase, S.R. Gadge, A.K. Dubey and B.D. Kadu (2012) Economics of biodiesel
production from Jatropha oil. Journal of Agricultural Technology 8(2): 657-662.

The economic feasibility of biodiesel production from jatropha oil was investigated. The
biodiesel was prepared by the process of transesterification of the unfiltered jatropha oil, in
presence of three per cent of KOH catalyst. Ethanol was added to oil by 30 per cent volume
basis. The reaction temperature was kept at 60 ± 5°C for 1 h. The developed batch production
unit of 5 l capacity at Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Bhopal was used for
biodiesel production from jatropha oil. The 90.20 per cent of biodiesel recovery was obtained.
The economic feasibility of prepared biodiesel was calculated by calculating the various
economics of jatropha plantation, jatropha oil extraction, jatropha ethyl ester production. The
cost of oil per kg and JEE production cost per liter was found to be Rs. 25.34 and 28.64,
respectively.

Key words: Biodiesel, Transesterification, Jatropha oil, Economics.

Introduction

Energy is the driving force in the development of any country. There

exist a strong relationship between economic growth and energy consumption.
The socio-economic indicator drives the pace of economic development of any
country. With regard to population, India is the second largest country in the
world and has 17 per cent of the world population. The huge population, from
300 million in 1947 to over one billion people today, is putting strain on
environment, infrastructure, employment and natural resources (Lodha and
Singh, 2006). A programme for the development of energy from raw material,
which grows in the rural areas, will go a long way in providing energy security
to the rural people (Naik et al., 2004). Even though many options like fuel cell
run by hydrogen, electric vehicles etc. are being explored, use of biodiesel as
replacement of petro diesel and ethanol in place of petrol are frontline
alternatives as they can be used without any modification or change in the

*
Corresponding author: Samodini S. Nevase; e-mail: [email protected]
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existing engines avoiding major additional investment. Recently, biodiesel has
been receiving increasing attention due to its less polluting nature and because
it is a renewable energy resource as against the conventional diesel, which is a
fossil fuel leating to a potential exhaustion. Mostly biodiesel is prepared from
oils like soybean, sunflower, safflower, rapeseed groundnut, and mustard etc.
these oils are essentially edible in nature. Attempts have been made for
producing biodiesel with non-edible oils like karanja and jatropha especially
available in India. Considering the above facts, the present study was
undertaken with the following objective to test the economic feasibility of
biodiesel from jatropha oil.
Dorado et al. (2006) studied and approach to the economics of to
vegetable oil based biofuels in Spain. This study identified that the price of the
feedstock was one of the most significant factors. Also, glycerol was found to
be a valuable by-product that could reduce the final manufacturing costs of the
process up to 6.5 per cent, depending on the raw feedstock used. Biodiesel can
only compete with diesel fuel prices. Planning Commission of India (2004) has
calculated the cost of biodiesel for Jatropha biodiesel considering seed at Rs. 6
per kg. And worked out the cost to be Rs. 20 per lit. (Which is expected at least
after 4 years of plantation from then). Dindorkar (2006) studied on the
production and energy balance of biodiesel and its performance in CI engine.
Economics were calculated for biodiesel production using small scale domestic
PKV Biodiesel processor. The cost of biodiesel was found Rs. 29.31 per liter of
biodiesel considering seed cost Rs.5/kg.

Materials and methods

Mechanical oil expelling was done for Jatropha oil extraction. CIAE,
mini oil expeller was used for small-scale oil extraction of Jatropha. Ethanol
(C2H5OH) was selected as alcohol, and is produced from biomass with less
poisonous. Potassium hydroxide (KOH) was selected as catalyst, due to its high
reactivity with oil in presence of ethanol. The batch production unit is
developed by CIAE, Bhopal for production of biodiesel was used by processing
5 liters of Jatropha oil by using KOH and ethanol in single stage trans-
esterification method. Single stage transeterification method was used for the
production of JEE from crude oil of Jatropha. The general procedure adopted
for the various trials as follows:- to know the quantity of filtered Jatropha oil,
the oil was poured in transesterification vessel, potassium hydroxide was used
about 3 per cent (w/v), ethanol was added 30 per cent (v/v), ethanol and KOH
was mixed in stirrer, and stirring was slowly done by 50 to 100 rpm, Above
mixture was slowly poured in the transesterification vessel containing Jatropha
oil. The mixture was heated at 65 oC in a closed vessel for alcoholsis, and the

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 Journal of Agricultural Technology 2012, Vol. 8(2): 657-662

same temperature and speed were maintained up to one hour, to achieve

complete transesterification. After an hour, the material was poured in
semitransparent settling tank. It was kept at room temperature for 2-3 h for
separation of the glycerine. Upper orange-brown ester was separated as bio-
diesel from lower thick brownish glycerin by using siphon pump or other
suitable means in separate tank. Ester was washed with water and mixed with
water in 1:1 proportion followed by air bubble from the bottom of the vessel
using air pump. Two times washings of 1-2 h were given, then pH of the bio-
diesel decreased in the range from 6.5 to 7.5. Washed bio-diesel was separated
from lower whitish washed water, Bio-diesel was heated up to 110°C for 1 hour
and 10 minutes to remove the excess moisture and thereafter cooling, bio-diesel
was ready for use in any diesel engine.

Results and disscusion

The economics of Jatropha plantation cost per ha, per plant and the cost
per Jatropha plant Rs. 6.00 under rainfed condition as shown in Table 1. Same
result was predicted by Planning Commission of India (2004). The economics
of Jatropha oil extraction from Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering
(CIAE) mini oil expeller as shown in Table 2. Capacity of the expeller assumed
to be 100 kg per hour and life of plant assumed for 10 years. And plant was
supposed to run for 12 h/day and in one month for 25 days i.e. in one month for
300 h and in 10 years 3000 h. cost of oil estimated 25.34 by considering the
seed cost Rs. 6/kg by considering profit at 15% the cost of oil was Rs 30 which
was used for calculation of economics of JEE. This study showed that the price
of the raw oil was one of the most significant factors. Also, seed hull and oil
cake were by-products that could reduce the final production costs of the
process up to 7.8 per cent. Same result was observed by Dorado et al. (2006).
The oil cost by using different seed cost was shown in Table 3. It showed that if
the seed cost increased by Rs 2/- then oil cost increased by Rs 8/-. The
economics of Jatropha ethyl ester production was shown in Table 4. It showed
that if the Jatropha oil cost was Rs. 26/kg, then the cost of Jatropha ethyl ester
was Rs. 28.64/liter. It seems that production of Jatropha ethyl ester is
economically feasible. The same observation was reported by Dindorkar
(2006).

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Table 1. Economics of Jatropha plantation

Description Cost (Rs)

Site preparation –10 MD 500
Alignment and staking-5MD 400
Digging of pits (2500 Nos.) 3500
Cost of FYM (2 kg per pits) 2000
Cost of fertilizer at Rs 6 per kg (50 gm per plant) 800
Mixing of FYM, insecticides and refilling pits at 100 per pit 1000
Planting and replanting cost 100 plants per MD 2000
Irrigation- 3 irrigation 1500
Wedding and soil working 1000
Plant protection measure 300
Sub total 13000
Contingencies at 10% 1300
Total 14300
Cost per plant 5.75

Table 2. Economics of jatropha oil extraction

Description Nos. Rate Rs.

A) Fixed cost
a) Machine cost: 1
i) Power operated cleaner cum 1 10000 10000
grader having capacity 150 kg/h
ii) Dehuller with 1 Hp motor having 1 10000 10000
about 100 kg/h capacity
iii) Flanking unit 1 40000 40000
iv) Oil filter press 1 15000 15000
v) Weighing scale, 100 kg capacity 1 10000 10000
vi) Pretreatment of seed 1 10000 10000
vii) Oil expeller 1 100000 100000
Total 195000
viii) Housing, furniture 5% 9750
Total 204750
ix) Salvage 10% 20475
Total 184275
Total per month 18427.5
b) Labor cost:
i) Skilled operator 1 4000 4000
ii) Helper 2 2000 4000
Total per month 8000
c) Electricity cost per month: 16000
Total Fixed cost (a+b+c) 42427.5
B) Variable cost
a) Seed cost 30000 kg 6/kg 180000
b) Miscellaneous 1% 184.27

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c) Interest 2% 368.55
Total Variable cost (a+b+c) 180552.82
Total cost (A+B) 222980.325
C) Material cost
i) Oil cake per month 18000 2/kg 36000
ii) Hull per month 4500 1/kg 4500
Total 40500
D) Total less byproduct cost [(A+B)-C] 182480.325
Oil cost per kg (D/seed weight) 25.34
Assumptions: Capacity of the oil expeller was 100 kg/h of Jatropha , Power requirement 20 Hp motor,
Operation per day 12 hr, Production of oil cake 60 kg, oil 24 kg, hull 15 kg, 1 kg waste, Sale price of oil
cake Rs 2/kg, and hull Rs 1/kg

Table 3. Effect of seed cost on oil extraction economics

Seed cost per kg Weight of seed per Seed cost per day Oil cost per kg (Rs)
(Rs) day (kg) (Rs)
4 30000 120000 17.01
6 30000 180000 25.34
8 30000 240000 33.67
10 30000 300000 42.01
12 30000 360000 50.34

Table 4. Economics of jatropha ethyl ester production

Sr. No. Description Nos. Rate Rs.

A) Fixed cost
Machine cost:
1) Cost of machine 1 50000 50000
2) Depreciation 10% 4500
3) Interest 2% 1000
4) Maintenance 1% 500
Total 56000
Cost/day (Capacity 200 l/day) 28.00
B) Variable cost
1) Jatropha oil 200 l/day 26/kg 5200
2) Ethanol 60 l/day 35/l 2100
3) Catalyst 6 kg/day 10/kg 60
4) Electricity 10 kW/day 4 40
5) Labor 1 100/day 100
Total 7500
C) Byproduct cost
Glycerol 30 l/day 60/l 1800
Total 1800
Total cost [A+(B-C)] 5728
Total cost of JEE per liter 28.64

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 Economics of Jatropha biodiesel production in the biodiesel processor
were developed and started with oil of Jatropha. The cost of production for the
processor was around Rs. 5000 and plant age was considered approximately 10
years. The cost of JEE was estimated as Rs. 28.64 by considering seeds and
Jatropha oil cost of Rs. 6/kg and Rs. 26/kg., respectively. Biodiesel production
was found to be affordable and comparable to the existing diesel prices.

Conclusion

The cost of JEE was found to be Rs. 28.64 per liter (by reducing cost of
byproducts) when the cost of Jatropha oil was a Rs. 26/kg and that of seed cost
was Rs. 6/kg. Biodiesel is gaining acceptable worldwide as a solution for
problem of environmental degradation, energy security, restricting imports,
rural employment and attaining better agricultural economy.

References
Dindorkar, S.K. (2006). Production and energy balance of biodiesel and its performance in CI
engine. M.Tech Thesis (Unpub.) Dr. PDKV, Akola.
Dorado, M.P., F. Cruz; J.M. Palomar; and F.J. Lopez (2006). An approach to the economics of
two vegetable oil-based biofuels in Spain. Renewable Energy. 31(8): 1231-1237.
Lodha, M.C. and R. Singh (2006). Zetropha Curcas: A Complete Biodiesel. Kurukshetra. 21-22.
Naik, S.N., L.M. Das; G. Sahu and M.K. Naik (2004). Optimization of biodiesel production
from Karaja oil. National Conference on Biodiesel For IC Engines-Technologies and
Strategies For Rural Application. 95-101.
Planning Commission, (2004). Report of Committee on Development on Biofuels Govt. of
India, New Delhi.

(Published in March 2012)

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