STUDIES ON POTENTIALITY OF Arctium lappa L. AS A SHORT GESTATION BIOFUEL SPECIES
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Date
2019-08-27
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UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES, GKVK BENGALURU
Abstract
Biodiesel production from non-edible sources has become one of the most prime
areas of search for renewable fuels. The currently used non-edible tree born oil seeds are
considered as long gestation sources which take 5-10 years to provide economic yield of
feedstock. There are probabilities of having short gestation crops viz. annual/ seasonal
crops in short cycles that can provide the feedstock continuously. The present study was
conducted with a view to introduce one such crop plant to the list of plants aiding
uninterrupted production of biodiesel. Arctium lappa L. plants were raised in two
locations Biofuel Center, GKVK, Bengaluru and Biofuel Park, Madenur, Hassan during
September, 2016 in order to check the feasibility of establishment of the annual herb and
to study the properties of oil feasible for use in biodiesel production. The morphological
characters of the plant, oil content estimation, biochemical properties of oil and biodiesel
have been investigated following standard methods. The oil was found to be rich in
linoleic acid (62.06 %) with viscosity (41.07 mm2
/s) and density (919 kg / m3
). Biodiesel
production was carried out in a single stage process, involving alkali catalyzed
transesterification with maximum conversion of 96.2 %. From the study, Arctium lappa
L. was found to contain about 20-23 % oil in its seeds and yields are estimated about
1,700 kg per hectare in 7-8 months. The growth performance of plant was found to be
good in both the locations and biodiesel properties were on par with the International
standard