Production of heavy fuel oil 180 from Tsimiroro heavy oil and Jatropha oil

In the global economic context created by the war in Ukraine, the cost of fossil fuels, the main source of energy, is a serious problem.The heavy oil from Tsimiroro, in the Morondava sedimentary basin, exploited by Socit Madagascar Oil, could be used as a fuel for power generation.The problem with this heavy oil is that it is difficult to use because of its viscosity and high density.Mixed with diesel, it has been possible to produce HFO 380 and heavy fuel oil 700.In view of the skyrocketing price per barrel, the use of Jatropha curcas vegetable oil instead of diesel is being considered to improve the properties of this unconventional oil, since, according to previous research, its properties are similar to those of diesel, except for density and viscosity, according to previous research.At the end of this work, the parameters analyzed for the blends studied with 15%, 20%, 30% and 40% by volume of Jatropha oil, respectively, all conformed to the specifications for heavy fuel oil 180 authorized in Madagascar by a ministerial decree in agreement with the Office Malgache des Hydrocarbures (OMH).In fact with a Jatropha content of 30%, the kinematic viscosity of the heavy oil at 50C of 890 cSt becomes 121.7 cSt, its density at 15C of 0.976 becomes 0.965 and its flash point of 93C becomes 82C.Studies on the use of this innovative, more environmentally friendly solution could be envisaged with the national water and electricity company JIRAMA.