Dear followers of Project Jatropha,Apoorva and I are currently in a program in Labland Biotechs where we are learning the various agronomic practices of Jatropha cultivation and the details of the extraction and conversion of Jatropha oil into biodiesel. Currently, it is day 3 of our course. On the first day, we learned about the selection criterion that is used to determine the seeds that Labland Biotechs germinates in order to sell as seedlings. The process involved softening the seed coats with a dilute hydrochloric acid solution in order to speed up germination. In addition, Apoorva and I created a batch of artificial soil that the seeds were planted in. The soil was a mixture of sand, red dirt, manure, and coconut husks, designed to supply plenty of water and nutrients to the seeds after they sprout.
Yesterday and today, Apoorva and I will be converting both regular, edible vegetable oils and Jatropha oil into biodiesel on both a commercial and laboratory scale. While both processes are similar, the conversion of Jatropha oil is more complex since it is inedible. The Jatropha biodiesel that Apoorva and I are making will be given to us so we can run it in our vehicles. Labland Biotechs has been running a Chevy Tavera on a 10% Jatropha biofuel blend for a year; the biodiesel blend gets on average 4-5 more kilometers per liter than straight diesel. In addition, Labland Biotechs plans to increase the amount of biodiesel in the blend yearly by 10% and see the effects of the biodiesel on the engine and the vehicle's performance.
Sincerely,
Adarsha
Posts
