In July 2010, biomass group (http://brg.groups.xtbg.ac.cn/) in Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG), CAS reported their new progress on continuous production of biodiesel fromJatrophaoil. Jatropha curcas L., as the most promising plant for biodiesel production, receives much attention at both home and abroad. Jatropha oil has a high content of free fatty acids, which results in the low conversion rate and unstable biodiesel when it is directly catalyzed to biodiesel. Professor Zhen Fang developed a new two-step process to prepare biodiesel from Jatropha oil based on numerous experiments. The new process used ultrasonic radiation to transfer energy directly to the substrate molecules, then induced and enhanced the violent vibration of molecules, which resulted in remarkable faster reaction rate, shorter reaction time and reduce energy consumption as compared with other synthesis technologies. Related achievements were published in the international journal “Energy Conversion and Management”. Two patents were filed with one already authorized.

Related references:

X. Deng,Zhen Fang*, Y. H. Liu. Ultrasonic transesterification of Jatropha curcas L. oil to biodiesel by a two-step process, Energy Conversion and Management, 51, 2802-2807 (2010)