TY - JOUR
T1 - Desert date (Balanites aegyptiaca) as an arid lands sustainable bioresource for biodiesel
AU - Chapagain, Bishnu P.
AU - Yehoshua, Yariv
AU - Wiesman, Zeev
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank Prof. Eran Sher of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Ben-Gurion University for the biodiesel engine tests. Authors also thank Dr. Elaine Solowey from Kibbutz Ketura, the Kibbutz Samar team for maintaining Desert date plantations, and to Ms Edna Oxman in editing this manuscript. Financial support from the Dibner Foundation and Ormat Industries is also gratefully acknowledged.
PY - 2009/2/1
Y1 - 2009/2/1
N2 - The aim of this study was to assess the suitability of Desert date (Balanites aegyptiaca L. Delile) as an oil crop in arid lands for large-scale sustainable industrial biodiesel production. Characterization of the Desert date plant material showed that using proper cultivation practices with emphasis on low quality irrigation water trees can be extremely well developed in hyper-arid conditions of the Israeli Arava desert and yield oil-rich fruits. Best selected trees can yield date fruits up to 52 kg/trees. Desert date kernels oil content may reach up to 46.7% (based on dry weight). The oil is consisted on four major fatty acids: palmitic (16:0), stearic (18:0), oleic (18:1), and linoleic (18:2), constituting 98-100% of the total fatty acids in the oil of all tested genotypes. Linoleic acid was the most prevalent fatty acid, ranging from 31% to 51% of the fatty acids profile, very similar to soybean oil profile. In situ biodiesel production directly from oil-enriched powder was successfully developed. Yield efficiency for both conventional and in situ biodiesel production was about 90%. The qualities of the produced biodiesel well meet the international biodiesel standards. The present study clearly demonstrated Desert date as a model for the utilization of bioresources in the Israeli Arava desert and potentially other similar areas for cost-effective biodiesel production.
AB - The aim of this study was to assess the suitability of Desert date (Balanites aegyptiaca L. Delile) as an oil crop in arid lands for large-scale sustainable industrial biodiesel production. Characterization of the Desert date plant material showed that using proper cultivation practices with emphasis on low quality irrigation water trees can be extremely well developed in hyper-arid conditions of the Israeli Arava desert and yield oil-rich fruits. Best selected trees can yield date fruits up to 52 kg/trees. Desert date kernels oil content may reach up to 46.7% (based on dry weight). The oil is consisted on four major fatty acids: palmitic (16:0), stearic (18:0), oleic (18:1), and linoleic (18:2), constituting 98-100% of the total fatty acids in the oil of all tested genotypes. Linoleic acid was the most prevalent fatty acid, ranging from 31% to 51% of the fatty acids profile, very similar to soybean oil profile. In situ biodiesel production directly from oil-enriched powder was successfully developed. Yield efficiency for both conventional and in situ biodiesel production was about 90%. The qualities of the produced biodiesel well meet the international biodiesel standards. The present study clearly demonstrated Desert date as a model for the utilization of bioresources in the Israeli Arava desert and potentially other similar areas for cost-effective biodiesel production.
KW - Arid
KW - Balanites aegyptiaca
KW - Biodiesel
KW - Desert date
KW - In situ trans-esterification
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=55549104702&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.biortech.2008.09.005
DO - 10.1016/j.biortech.2008.09.005
M3 - Article
C2 - 18848776
AN - SCOPUS:55549104702
VL - 100
SP - 1221
EP - 1226
JO - Bioresource Technology
JF - Bioresource Technology
SN - 0960-8524
IS - 3
ER -
