Optimization of Mechanical Oil Extraction of Jatropha Seeds from Oil Expeller

A study was carried out to optimize the moisture content of Jatropha seeds expelling through a mechanical expeller. A MERADO developed, 1 TPD mustard oil expeller was used for the expelling of whole Jatropha seeds. Moisture levels were started from 14 percent with a step size of 3 percent and continued up to the last increment in oil recovery. Oil recovery, specific power consumption and expeller throughput were taken into consideration for observation. Oil recovery was found maximum 21.10 percent at 23 % moisture content and 21.70 percent at 20 % moisture content for hot water sprinkling. However, the expeller efficiencies on these moisture levels were only 57.96 and 59.61 percent. Residual oil in the cake was minimum 15.8 and 15.2 percent in accordance with maximum oil recovery for cold and hot water sprinkling, respectively. Specific power consumption was found minimum at 20 % moisture content for both the treatments. The throughput of the expeller was observed maximum (6.15 kg/h) up to 17 % moisture content and having no remarkable difference among them for both the treatments.