Jatropha Oil Extractor Equipment

Mr. Ronnie P. Iwayan Instructor 1 Carlos Hilado Memorial State College Talisay City, Negros Occidental, Philippines

ABSTRACT
Biofuels have been introduced as an alternative fuel to petro-diesel. These fuels are renewable because they will not run out of supply as long as oil bearing vegetation is constantly cultivated. Since Jatropha seeds were identified as one of the best sources of oil for biodiesel production, the local government calls for the widespread propagation of jatropha for seed production to be processed into biodiesel. Observations will show that there are vast areas of government and private idle lands, not suitable for planting agricultural crops and could be utilized in jatropha propagation. With the jatropha oil extractor equipment, it was assumed that the alternative fuel production of Region VI will soar and dependence on imported oil will be reduced. This will also provide cheaper, more environment-friendly alternative to diesel fossil fuels.

INTRODUCTION

atropha oil is one of the most promising sources of bio-fuel today. This oil can be easily processed into fuel that can replace or mixed with petroleum based diesel. This will relate to savings on imported petroleum oil. As potential source for biodiesel, the jatropha plant can produce an oil content of 3058%, depending on the quality of the soil where it is planted. Its seeds yield an annual equivalent of 0.75 to 2 tons of biodiesel per hectare. Based on a March 2006 study commissioned by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), potential areas for Jatropha plantation in the Philippines is at 2 million hectares. If farmers will be encouraged to plant even in field boundaries or hedges and to practice intercropping, a total of 5 million hectares can be utilized for the jatropha plant. With 1.1 million hectares dedicated to jatropha, 5.5 million metric tons (MMT) of biodiesel feedstock can be produced. Five million hectares can yield up to 25 MMT of biodiesel feedstock.

The benefits of jatropha as biodiesel include the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as the countrys oil imports. Local production of jatropha is also practical because as a non-food crop, it will not compete with food supply demands. It can also grow on marginal degraded land, leaving prime agricultural lots for food crops while at the same time restoring the marginal and degraded lands fertility. All of these benefits can possibly be achieved by the presence of this locally fabricated high efficiency jatropha oil extractor equipment. There are various oil presses that have been developed and modified from presses of other oil bearing seed crops here in Region VI. They vary in design and are non-standardized, as they were originally developed for other seeds and need to be optimized for jatropha oil extraction. Most of them are manually operated and needs to be heated with a kerosene lamp in order to extract the oil. In short, they are very inefficient and labor intensive.

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The percentage of recoverable oil is affected by the pressing technology. These hand operated extractors has a capacity of about 4 kg seeds an hour and has an average of 60% extraction of the recoverable oil. CHMSCs jatropha oil extractor equipment is powered by a HP induction motor and electric heating elements. It has a capacity of four times that of the hand operated extractors or about 16 kilograms of seeds per hour and approximately 80% extraction of the recoverable oil per cell. The number of cells depends on the desired capacity of the facility. Say, for 1 ton seed capacity per day, the oil extraction facility will need 8 cells. Chemical extraction using hexane can extract almost 100% of the recoverable oil from jatropha seeds but the process is not feasible in our present situation. The reason why jatropha was chosen as the fuelsource crop over other plants is because of its several advantages: It can thrive under adverse conditions; It is not eaten by animals; It is a vigorous, drought and pest resistant plant and when planted as a fence repels rodents and has phytoprotective action against pests and pathogens and thus provides additional protection to intercropped plants.

soap, used in pharmaceuticals, and fuel cooking stoves, ovens, and driers. All of these can be attained by efficiently extracting the oil from the jatropha seed using the extractor equipment. The high efficiency jatropha oil extractor equipment has three components: the de-huller which removes the hard outer covering of the dried seeds; the crusher which reduces the de-hulled seeds into finer pieces; and the oil expeller to squeeze out the oil from the crushed seeds.

The seeds are de-hulled and crushed to facilitate faster, easier and more efficient oil extraction operation. The government is taking careful, measured steps in exploring the use of Jatropha as biodiesel feedstock, as the following initiative show: The PNOC EDC has a 5-hectare pilot plantation in Kabankalan, Negros Occidental, which is being carried out in partnership with D1 Oils Asia Pacific, a subsidiary of D1 Oil Plc of the United Kingdom. Preparatory phase of other PNOC-EDC jatropha field trials in its geothermal project sites in Leyte, Negros Oriental, Sorsogon and Kidapawan, North Cotabato are currently on-going for the agronomic requirements and site conditions of jatropha, while the DOE works to draft the implementing rules and regulations of the Biofuels Law. Some of the identified large scale jatropha plantation projects in Region VI includes: the Dacongcogon Producers Cooperative and Marketing Association, an agricultural cooperative based in Negros Occidental; 14 hectare plantation at Blumentrit Farm in Murcia, Negros Occidental; the 200 hectare Minoyan Jatropha Propagation Project also in Murcia; the more than 100 hectare jatropha plantation project of Buglas Finance Corporation in Bago City and Kabankalan City, and a number of private and local government jatropha plantation projects in Region VI.

Thus, jatropha is a unique among renewable energy sources in terms of the potential benefits that can be expected to result from its widespread use. Its cultivation is technologically simple and requires comparatively low capital investment. The largescale cultivation of jatropha should target the 1 million hectares of non-arable land that requires treatment before food production is possible on them again. Once the trees establish themselves and fertilize the soil, their shade can be used for intercropping shade-loving vegetables such as red and green peppers, tomatoes etc. that would provide additional income for the farmers. The oil, which is the main product derived from the jatropha, also has lots of application aside from making it into biodiesel. It can be used to produce

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With this high efficiency jatropha oil extractor equipment readily available in the market, it is expected that the projected 1.1 million hectares of jatropha plantation will come to a realization. And not only will Region VI be in high gear in producing alternative fuels from jatropha oil but as well as the whole country. The jatropha oil may not be feasible as a biodiesel feed stock as of the moment, but it may be a profitable renewable source of alternative to petrofuel in the near future when fossil-fuel deposits are too low and its price are rocketing sky-high.

f.

Make the oil extraction equipment readily available in the market.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Figure 1 below illustrates the prototype of the Jatropha Oil Extractor Equipment and its Process Flow:

The massive campaign to encourage Jatropha planting waged by the government of the Philippines persuaded many people to plant Jatropha for seed production to be used in making biodiesel. 1 million hectares have been targeted for planting. But construction of processing plants has not yet started and it will take some time to set up the processing system. It should be pointed out that 2 or 3 years after planting Jatropha is too short to start the construction of biodiesel processing plants. CHMSC had been pondering about these issues whether these technologies will be ready in 2 or 3 years time, or will it be profitable for small farmers to venture into jatropha planting with the current situation of our country. Outlined herewith are following assumptions: 1) If the government or other private companies cannot be able to set up a biodiesel processing plant to accommodate the produce of those farmers earlier enticed to plant jatropha one or two years from now, the College can design and develop portable jatropha oil extractor equipment which is custom built to suit their needs. 2) Since, jatropha oil has high saponification value it can be used as an excellent substrate for soapmaking. The farmers can sell their jatropha oil to soap manufacturers in the country if there are no biodiesel processing plants yet available in the community. The oil extractor equipment which is handy can be used for extracting oil from their produce. 3) The farmers can also sell the extracted oil to pharmaceuticals because the jatropha oil is believed to have medicinal properties. In this case, they will also need the oil extractor equipment. 4) Jatropha oil can also be used as direct fuel to stoves without refining or esterification. 5) Supposing that there will be a biodiesel processing plant that will exist in the next one to two years but the farm gate price will be very

PROJECT OBJECTIVES
Generally, this project intends to answer the need of both the government and private sectors involved in jatropha propagation for biodiesel oil feedstock and other products from the extracted oil of the jatropha seeds. a. Specifically it shall; b. Efficiently extract oil from jatropha seeds; c. Operate jatropha oil extraction using less power input; d. Provide simplified and easy oil extraction operation; e. Offer a reliable and low maintenance oil extraction equipment; and

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undesirable to the farmers, they can extract their own jatropha oil using the extractor and sell it to soap producers or pharmaceuticals or simply make their own biodiesel (assuming they have enough knowledge to do so) for their own consumption. Four products may then be obtained from Jatropha oil: soap; pharmaceuticals; fuel oil for firing stoves, ovens, and driers; and biodiesel. The efforts and capital outlay of these farmers planting jatropha one or two years ago will not be wasted because of the existence of CHMSCs high efficiency jatropha oil extractor equipment.

Data Gathered:
Table 1. Tests on extracting oil from dried Jatropha seeds.
Volume of Oil Extracted in 1 Hour

Type of Extractor

Trial Number

Weight of Seeds Processed in 1 Hour

Conventional Hand Operated

3.95 kg

0.90 L

2 3 AVERAGE

3.75 kg 4.15 kg 3.95 kg

0.95 L 1.10 L 0.98 L

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The materials used in fabricating the machine may be sourced out locally and it can be done in any machine shop in areas interested to adopt the project. The operation is so easy that anybody could operate it without spending too much time studying it (user-friendly).
CHMSC Extractor Equipment 1 15.00 kg 4.10 L

2 3 AVERAGE

16.20 kg 16.90 kg 16.03 kg

4.25 L 3.90 L 4.08 L

Methodology
The first test included extracting oil from dried jatropha seeds with hull using the conventional hand operated expeller machine. The results showed that about four kilos of dried seeds can be processed in one hour. After several trials, the average oil extracted from the dried seeds was noted to be one liter. The second test conducted was oil extraction using the jatropha oil extractor equipment made by CHMSC. First, the dried seeds were passed into the de-huller to remove its outer covering. Then, particle size of the de-hulled seeds will be reduced using the crusher. After this, the crushed seeds were fed to the oil expeller for extraction. It was observed that the process can be done simultaneously after the seeds had reached the oil extraction stage. After several trials it was noted that an average of sixteen kilograms of dried seeds can be processed in an hour and about four liters of jatropha oil was extracted during the process.

REPLICATION POTENTIALS
The improvement in the design shall take into consideration the facility in replicating the equipment for mass production. The project will be undertaken in the machine shop of the college. It is expected that the machines necessary for the extraction of crude oil from jatropha seeds will always be available for the farmers in identified sites and other end users. The materials used in fabricating the equipment may be sourced out locally and it can be done in any machine shop in areas who would like to adopt the project. The operation is so easy that anybody could operate it without spending too much time studying it. The local government of Talisay and other neighboring municipalities and NGOs such as the Silay City Agricultural Office, the Bago City Planning and Development Office, the Bacolod City Chamber of Commerce, and the Engineering Foundation of West Negros University showed interest and support in this project.

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PROJECT COMPONENTS Equipment Efficiency Enhancement

The second phase will involve the construction of an improved oil extractor machine. Revisions will be made if necessary to improve performance as well as ease of handling and maintenance.

Livelihood Support for Small Farmers

The project aims to accommodate the growing needs of small jatropha farmers in the province in extracting oil from their produce due to the absence of jatropha oil mills in the region.

Without dehulling and crushing the seeds, the rate of extraction is only one (1) liter per hour per cell or about eight (8) liters of extracted jatropha oil per day (8 working hours) per cell. Whereas, with de-hulled and crushed seeds, the rate of extraction would have an average of four (4) liters per hour per cell or about thirty two (32) liters per day (8 hours) per cell (One cell means one oil expelling unit). The re-absorption of oil from expelling the oil from seeds with hull has also been observed to significantly reduce the percentage oil recovery. It is recommended therefore to dehull and crush the seeds first before expelling the oil to maximize extraction efficiency.

Alignment and Support to Other LGU/ NGO Projects

The equipment will be distributed to jatropha plantation projects of the local governments across the province to extract the oil from their harvest. The oil extracted using the machine will then be processed into biodiesel in institutions with biodiesel production facilities.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

The immense promotion of the government to propagate jatropha for oil production; and the relentless search of the business sector for an efficient jatropha oil extractor machine; made CHMSC decide to pursue in producing a high efficiency jatropha oil extractor equipment. The growing interest in Jatropha Curcas locally known as kasla, as an alternative source of fuel by various sectors in the country has spurred the college to come up with its own research and development project on jatropha oil production. The project initially focused on equipment development which aims to design and fabricate equipment for dehulling and extracting of crude oil from jatropha seeds. The equipment capable of extracting the oil from jatropha seeds to be used as feedstock to biodiesel processing plants.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Oil is easily extracted from the seeds by the use of the extractor equipment. This motor driven machine is simple enough to be operated in provinces by village folks. The yield is about 4 liter of oil for every 12 to 16 kilograms of seeds in an hour. The extracted oil can then be used directly for soap making, pharmaceuticals and as fuel for stoves, ovens, and dryers or can likewise be refined to produce biodiesel. The jatropha oil expeller is powered by a HP motor but can also be operated manually in the absence of electricity especially in remote areas, or if the operator wishes to save on electrical consumption. Both the de-huller and crusher are operated manually using pedals attached to a driving chain but can also be converted to motor driven in case there would be no one to do the pedaling. The machine can extract the oil from the jatropha seeds through the oil expeller even without the use of the de-huller and crusher machines but the extraction efficiency will be greatly decreased.
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IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The jatropha oil extractor equipment of CHMSC is not only intended for jatropha oil extraction to be used as feedstock for biodiesel production, but also for other products that could be derived from the jatropha oil such as soap, pharmaceutical products, and direct fuel for stoves, ovens, and dryers which does not require oil refining or etherification. The equipment can also be utilized to extract oil from other seed crops such as corn, sunflower, soy beans, peanuts, etc.

Below are some of the products that can be made by extracting jatropha seed oil using the oil extractor equipment:

For a 3 ton seed requirement per day: You will need 24 cells Total cost of equipment therefore is: 60 000.00 +23(10 000.00) = P290,000.00

REFERENCES
Rizalina K. Araral (2008). Amazing Jatropha. FPRDI, College, Laguna. February Jatropha Oil Development Plan, DOST- S&T POST July to September 2006 Ted Mendoza , Oscar Zamora and Joven Lales. Jatropha Curcas: What the Public Should Know. Faculty of Crop Science, College of Agriculture, University of the Philippines at Los Banos The Strongest Link Publication, Volume VI, Issue 16, March 2007 Jatropha Methyl Ester, DOST-ITDI Publications The Biodiesel Magazine, International Publication, March 2008

Cost of Equipment: De-huller machine P20 000.00 Crusher machine 20 000.00 Oil Expeller machine w/ 20 000.00 one expelling unit Additional cell (expelling unit) 10 000.00 For a 1 ton seed requirement per day: You will need 8 cells Total cost of equipment therefore is: 60 000.00 + 7(10 000.00) = P130,000.00

BRIEF BIODATA
Mr. Ronnie P. Iwayan, is currently an Instructor I at Carlos Hilado Memorial State College (CHMSC), Talisay City, Negros Occidental, Philippines. He is a machinist cum inventor TESDA (Technical Education and Skills Development Authority) accredited Third Class electric arc welder (SMAW) and a recipient of the Skills Training in Computerized Numerical Control Lathe Machine Programming and Application sponsored by TESDA and JICA. His research deals with design and development of farming implements, prototype gadgets and devices in Automotive and Mechanical Technology. He has been a research adviser and consultant in various research projects of industrial technology students. He earned his Bachelors Degree in Industrial Education major in Machine Shop Technology from the CHMSC, Talisay City and currently pursuing Master in Technology Management. (Email: chmsc_rds@yahoo.com)

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