Muhaji, I. Wardana, Lilis Yuliati, Mega Nur Sasongko
Transesterification is the process in which a longchainedand branched molecule (triglyceride) is broken forming smaller straight and short chained molecule (methyl ester). Methyl ester which contains more oxygen, hydrogen and carbon, has vinegar acid (COOCH3) at one edge of which, while methyl (CH3) at the other one. Methyl ester is a very promising biofuel because it contains higher oxygen, hydrogen and carbon. Thus, the purposeof this research is to investigate the flame characteristics of this vegetable oil methyl ester. The results indicate that the flame characteristic of methyl esters obtained from jatrophacurcaslinnaeus is the most similar to that of diesel oil, while that made from coconut oil was the least. Furthermore, the combustion rate of methyl esters is higher than that of diesel oil. Diesel oil has the highest energy releasing rate meanwhile the lowest is for methyl ester from coconut oil. © Research India Publications.
Brawijaya University, Mechanical Engineering Department, Malang, 65145, Indonesia; Surabaya State University, Mechanical Engineering Department, Surabaya, 60231, Indonesia
