Biodiesel production from date seeds via microwave assisted technique

World is threatened by fossil fuel reduction and environmental degradation crises. The reliance on fossil fuels as a source of energy has increased throughout the years, which is causing an increase in the harmful exhaust gases. In order to solve this issue, best solution is use of biomass, which is a renewable and clean source to obtain fuel. Biodiesel is a fuel from animal fats and vegetable oils obtained by transesterification is used as an alternative for fossil and diesel fuels since it is clean, biodegradable and does less harm to the environment. Biodiesel is produced in present work by using microwave technique from waste date seeds oil. It was determined that microwave assisted transesterification technique decreases the time required for the reaction drastically in comparison with conventional methods. Moreover, high quality of biodiesel can be obtained. The optimum yield obtained was 98.72% when the reaction temperature was 60°C, methanol to oil ratio of 6:1 and a reaction time of 1.75 minutes for biodiesel production. The biodiesel produced was found to have a kinematic viscosity of 4.1 mm²/s, density of 886.3 kg/m³ and calorific value of 43.33 MJ/kg.