RP jatropha biodiesel passes European, American biodiesel standards
Manila (24 October) -- The Technological University of the Philippines (TUP) specifically its Integrated Research and Training Center (IRTC) and Chemrez Technologies Inc., the country's leading producer of biofuels and environment-friendly industrial product, announced the successful conversion of oil from local jatropha seeds to a quality biodiesel.
"The Philippines is capable of producing jatropha biodiesel that can pass international standards. What is more important to note is that we used seeds from the local jatropha variety," said Engineer Philip Argamosa, IRTC Director.
The TUP extracted the oil from the jatropha seeds while Chemrez was responsible for the esterification process to convert the jatropha crude oil to jatropha methyl ester, commonly known as jatropha biodiesel.
The properties of the jatropha biodiesel produced was within the specifications in EN 14214 (European Biodiesel Standards) and ASTMD 6751 (American Biodiesel Standards). The PNOC-Alternative Fuels Corporation (PNOC-AFC), the biofuels arm of state-owned PNOC, provided the local jatropha seeds to TUP for oil extraction.
"Given that the jatropha biodiesel passed European and American Biodiesel Standards, reluctance on the properties of jatropha as a biodiesel feedstock will now be scored out," said Peter Anthony A. Abaya, PNOC-AFC president and chief executive officer.
In a related development, IRTC Director Engr. Argamosa has confirmed the completion of a manual jatropha seed expeller that can be used with relative ease by farmers for oil extraction. At present, work is ongoing for the fabrication of a locally-designed hydraulic press suitable for bulk and continuous jatropha oil extraction. (PIA-MMIO) [top]
