Abstract

This paper deals with the study of degradation of crude oil using biodiesel from two different sources having different degree of saturation. Biodiesel is normally produced for meeting the energy demand in the market, can also be used for the degradation purpose because of its solvent nature on hydrocarbons. This property is used to degrade the crude oil by dissolve the complex hydrocarbon chains in it, thereby reducing its viscosity and enhancing its handling. The feedstocks used for biodiesel production are oil from seeds of Mimusops elengi (unsaturated oil) and waste beef tallow (saturated Fat). The biodiesel was produced by the means of base catalyzed methanol transesterification reaction. The most optimized blending ratio between crude oil to biodiesel was found to be 1:1.95 (crude oil: biodiesel) for elengi biodiesel and 1:1.85 (crude oil: biodiesel) for tallow biodiesel and the retention time for elengi oil and tallow biodiesel was found to be 16 days and 24 days respectively. The maximum degradation rate that was achieved by this technique was 95%. This method proves to be a renewable option for degrading the spilled crude oil during wreckages with limited environmental concerns in ecofriendly manner.

Keywords: Degradation; Crude oil; Mimusops elengi oil; Beef tallow; Transesterification; Response surface methodology