Exploring Oil Palm Fruit Pulp for Direct Biodiesel Production via In-Situ Transesterification

Conventional biodiesel production from palm oil requires separate extraction and transesterification steps, leading to increased costs and complexity. This study introduces an innovative in-situ transesterification method utilizing oil palm pulp, eliminating the need for oil extraction and simplifying the production process, which ultimately reduces costs. The effects of catalyst type, methanol-to-pulp ratio, and hexane addition on biodiesel yield were systematically evaluated. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was employed to confirm the biodiesel purity and assess the composition. Results showed that sulphuric acid (H₂SO₄) outperformed sodium hydroxide (NaOH) due to reduced soap formation, which hindered phase separation. The highest biodiesel yield of 38.79% was achieved at 75°C, using 3 wt% sulphuric acid, a 2:1 methanol-to-pulp ratio (ml:g), and a 24-hour reaction time, with no hexane addition. The presence of hexane as a co-solvent had minimal impact on biodiesel yield. This study demonstrates a cost-effective, simplified process for biodiesel production from oil palm pulp, offering significant potential for scaling up production. Future research could focus on conducting a detailed cost analysis and exploring the scalability of the in-situ process to validate its commercial viability.