SANTOL (Sandoricum koetjape) AND

LANZONES (Lansium domesticum) SEEDS

AS AN ALTERNATIVE FUEL

AN ENTRY FOR THE DIVISION

SCIENCE FAIR 2015
SCIENCE INVESTIGATORY PROJECT

PHYSICAL- INDIVIDUAL CATEGORY

Cassandra Maureen T. Tan

BETHANY CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page.......................................................................................................................................i

Abstract.......................................................................................................................................ii

Table of Contents........................................................................................................................iii

Introduction.................................................................................................................................1

Background of the Study.................................................................................................1

Statement of the Problem.................................................................................................3

Significance of the Study.................................................................................................4

Scope and Limitations......................................................................................................4

Theoretical Considerations..............................................................................................5

Review of Related Literature..........................................................................................8

Materials & Methods ................................................................................................................10

General Procedure...........................................................................................................12

Results and Discussions...............................................................................................................14

 ABSTRACT

For the past years the world is experiencing challenges brought by depleting energy sources which resulted to
the utilization of natural resources that can be converted to alternative source of fuel. The usage of plants as an
alternative source of oil that can be converted to fuel is one of the solutions to answer the need for more fuel sources.
The researcher thought of utilizing both Santol seed (Sandoricumkoetjape) and Lanzonesseed (Lansiumdomesticum)
as the source of oil to be converted to fuel. The researcher dried the seeds, pounded it and boiled it with 50 ml of
water. The extracted oil was mixed with methanol with a 4:1 ratio methanol/oil) with potassium hydroxide as a
catalyst.

Results showed that for 100 g of santol and lanzones seeds, an average of 31 mL of oil was extracted.
Moreover, 94.67 ml of fuel was derived after mixing the oil with methanol. The researcher utilized 20 mL of the
sample as a fuel for the alcohol lamp and the fuel was able to sustain the flame in the alcohol lamp for 30 minutes.
The experiment proved that the extracted oil from santol and lanzones can provide a sufficient amount of oil that can
be converted to an alternative fuel using methanol.
 INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Fuels are materials that are used for work or to power heat energy. For the past centuries, our main source of

fuel is coal. Coal is a fossil fuel; it is used to power electricity and is needed in steel and cement activities. It is

extracted from ground by coal mining in a process whether by shaft mining or open pit extraction. However, due to

adverse health and environmental effects of coal mining, scientists have been researching for several ways to harness

fuel from different resources. Coal is a non-renewable resource; it cannot be readily replaced on a level equal to its

consumption. It would take billions of years for it to take form. The constant research for a sustainable fuel source

resulted to the discovery of alternative fuels.

Fuel science has been a source of primary research work. The scope is broad and includes many topics of

increasing interest such as environmental aspects and pollutions. A wide variety of fuels are covered. These are

asphalt, coke, granite, oils and gases, peat, synthetic fuels (including Dimethyl ether (DME), biofuels, tar sands,

bitumen, coal, natural gas, oil shale, petroleum, tar and pitch, woods and biomass, hydrogen fuels, waste-derived fuels

(WDF), refused-derived fuels (RDF) and carbon. (Patrick, J. 2001)

Due to recent studies and researches, fruit plants especially their seeds, yield oils that can be harnessed and

used as alternative source of fuel. Oils from mango, avocado and jackfruit seeds are now being continually developed

and identified as a source of raw material for biodiesel production.

The researcher wants to explore the possibility of oil from Santol seed(Sandoricumkoetjape)and Lanzonesseed

(Lansiumdomesticum)as a viable source of alternative fuel. They were inspired by the knowledge that seeds from their

favorite fruits can yield oils and are used as a biodiesel.

Santol(Sandoricumkoetjape),is severely a tropical tree and does not grow over 1000 meters. The Santol is

reproduced by seeds, air-layering, inarching, or by budding onto self- root stocks. It is usually cultivated in Asian

countries and its fruits are abundant in local markets during the season. Santol itself is very elegant by appearance and

fast growing tree which can attain height up to 50 m. It also makes a good shade tree with large lime to deep green

leaves and offering occasional contrasting red leaves. Leaves are typically trifoliate, but sometimes the number of

leaflets may be more leaflets broadly the ovate to ovate rectangle, faintly fragrant. A very creative tree, it produces

between 18,000 and 24,000 fruits per year. It is harvested by clamping the ripen fruits.

The fruit (technically a capsule) is globose or oblate, with wrinkles extending a short distance from the base; 1

1/2 to 3 in (4-7.5 cm) wide; yellowish to golden, sometimes blushed with pink. The downy rind may be thin or thick
and contains a thin, milky juice. It is edible, as is the white, translucent, juicy pulp (aril), sweet, sub-acid or sour,

surrounding the 3 to 5 brown, inedible hard seeds which are up to 3/4 in (2 cm) long, tightly clinging or sometimes

free from the pulp (Morton, J. 1987).

Lanzones (Lansiumdomesticum ) is a fruit-bearing tree that is widely grown in tropical areas and is known for

its sweet fruit. The fruits look like small orbs or spheres, and are about 5 cm in diameter. They are found in clusters of

2 to 30 fruits which grow along the branches and trunk of the lanzones tree. The fruit has a thick skin which is yellow-

brown in color. Underneath the skin are about 5 or 6 slices of juicy, translucent flesh. The flesh is sweet when it is

ripe. There is also a green seed in half of the segments which taste very bitter. The fruit almost tastes like a sweet

grapefruit or a grape, as its flesh contains glucose, fructose, and sucrose. Lanzones, a species of fruit-

bearing tree, belongs to the family Meliaceae. Its scientific classification is kingdom Plantae, order Sapindales, and

genus Lansium. It is native to Malaysia and Indonesia. This tree is now widely grown in tropical regions for its sweet

fruit, known variously as langsat, lansa, langseh, lansep, lanzon, lanzone, lansone, duku or kokosan. The skin is

yellow to brown and often spotted with a smooth and waxy texture. When peeled away, it reveals separate slices of

sweet translucent meat, which contains bitter seeds that are not eaten.

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to produce biofuel from Santol (Sandoricumkoetjape) and Lanzones

(Lansiumdomesticum)seeds.

Specifically, this study aims to answer the following questions:

1. How much oil can be extracted from Santol and Lanzones seeds?

2. How much fuel can be derived from the mixture of the alcohol and oil?

3. Will the combustion of fuel last for 30 minutes?

4. Is the oil produced from Santol and Lanzones seeds an effective source of fuel in terms of flammability?

5. Can the Sandoricumkoetjapeand Lansiumdomesticum seeds be a good source of fuel?

Significance of the Study

Fuel is something that people need nowadays, but fuel is expensive. Therefore, this study aims to serve as an

alternative to the expensive fuel that we have to pay for on a regular basis. This study could also help government

agencies such as the DOE and LGU. This study could benefit the DOE, most especially their Biomass Energy

Management Division, as the recommendation of this study to be a source of energy will help them in their duty of

recommending, developing, and implementing different biofuels. The LGU may also benefit from this study as the

LGU can apply this study and provide energy and fuel for the needy people.

This study also helps the environment as it reduces the depletion of the ozone layer. The production of fuel is

harmful to the ozone layer as it causes it to deplete. Depletion of the ozone layer causes harmful effects to the

environment, such as climate change and global warming. The production of biofuel, as in this study, is relatively safe

for the environment and does not contribute to the depletion of the ozone layer. Biofuels made from Santol and

Lanzones seeds, for example, can help save Mother Earth from ozone depletion and the harmful effects that it causes.

Scope and Limitations

This study focuses on the production of an alternative fuel and its effectiveness in terms of combustibility

only. The production of biofuel will be done within the premises of Bethany Christian School. Sandoricumkoetjape

and Lansiumdomesticum seeds will be the only seeds to be used in the production of the fuel. The study will be limited

in testing the efficiency of the fuel using the alcohol lamp using 20 mL of the derived fuel and testing if it can

continuously light up until 30 minutes. Oil yield and fuel yield was presented quantitatively while the efficiency of the

fuel was expressed qualitatively.

THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS

COAL

Coal is a combustible, sedimentary, organic rock, which is composed mainly of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.

It is formed from vegetation, which has been consolidated between other rock strata and altered by the combined

effects of pressure and heat over millions of years to form coal seams. The build-up of silt and other sediments,

together with movements in the earth's crust - known as tectonic movements - buried swamps and peat bogs, often to

great depths. With burial, the plant material was subjected to high temperatures and pressures. This caused physical

and chemical changes in the vegetation, transforming it into peat and then into coal. Coal is a fossil fuel and is far

more plentiful than oil or gas, with around 109 years of coal remaining worldwide. Not only does coal provide
electricity, it is also an essential fuel for steel and cement production, and other industrial activities. Coal formation

began during the Carboniferous Period - known as the first coal age - which spanned 360 million to 290 million years

ago. (http://www.worldcoal.org/coal/what-is-coal/)

BIOFUEL

Biofuel is a hydrocarbon produced from living organism or from metabolic byproducts (organic or food waste

products). It must contain 80 percent renewable materials.It is originally derived from the photosynthesis process and

can therefore often be referred to as a solar energy source. It can be made through chemical reactions, carried out in a

laboratory or industrial setting. The starting material must be CO2 that was fixed by a living organism and the final

fuel product must be produced quickly and not over millions of years. Examples of biofuels are ethanol, biodiesel,

methanol and biobutanol. (http://www.biofuel.org.uk/)

TRIGLYCERIDE OIL

A triglyceride (TG, triacylglycerol,TAG or triacylglyceride) is an ester derived from glycerol and three fatty

acids. Triglycerides are the main constituents of vegetable oil (typically more unsaturated) and animal fats (typically

more saturated). Triglycerides are a major component of human skin oils. Triglycerides are also split into their

components via transesterification during the manufacture of diesel. The resulting fatty acid esters can be used as fuel

in diesel engines. Seed and fruit oils can contain a vast range of different fatty acids. (Christie, W. 2011)

SEED

A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering called the seed coat, usually with some

stored food. It is a characteristic of spermatophytes gymnosperm and angiosperm plants) and the product of the

ripened ovule which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant. The formation of the seed

completes the process of reproduction in seed plants (started with the development of flowers and pollination), with

the embryo developed from the zygote and the seed coat from the integuments of the ovule. While some seeds are

edible, others are harmful, poisonous or deadly. Plants and seeds often contain chemical compounds to

discourage herbivores and seed predators. In some cases, these compounds simply taste bad (such as in mustard), but

other compounds are toxic or break down into toxic compounds within the digestive system.

(www.ScienceDaily.com)
EXTRACTION

Oil extraction is the isolation of oil from animal by-products, fleshy fruits such as the olive and palm, and

oilseeds such as cottonseed, sesame seed, soybeans, and peanuts. Oil is extracted by three general methods: rendering,

used with animal products and oleaginous fruits; mechanical pressing, for oil-bearing seeds and nuts; and extracting

with volatile solvents, employed in large-scale operations for a more complete extraction than is possible with

pressing. Many oil-bearing seeds and nuts are broken up by grinding, flaking, or rolling, and then subjected to

mechanical pressing to liberate the oil. The modern continuous screw press exerts pressures as high as 30,000 pounds

per square inch. In modern press extraction, oilseeds or nuts are cleaned, and the shells or hulls removed; the kernels

or meats are ground to a coarse meal that is pressed with or without preliminary heating. Cold-pressed oil, also called

cold-drawn, or virgin, oil, is purer and has a better flavor than oil expressed with the aid of heat. After pressing the

meals made from oily seeds or nuts, the remaining cake contains about 5 to 15 percent oil. Most of the oil present in

these residues, and in meals made from seeds and nuts that naturally contain little oil, can be removed by extraction

with volatile solvents, especially petroleum benzin (also known as petroleum ether, commercial hexane, or heptane).

The solvent is percolated through the meal, dissolving the oil, which is finally recovered from the solution by

evaporating the solvent. (Britannica, 2015)

METHANOL

Methanol (CH3OH), also known as wood alcohol, is considered an alternative fuel under the Energy Policy

Act of 1992. As an engine fuel, methanol has chemical and physical fuel properties similar to ethanol. Methanol use in

vehicles has declined dramatically since the early 1990s, and automakers no longer manufacture methanol vehicles in

the United States. This fuel is generally produced by steam-reforming natural gas to create a synthesis gas. Feeding

this synthesis gas into a reactor with a catalyst produces methanol and water vapor. Various feedstocks can produce

methanol, but natural gas is currently the most economical. (http://www.afdc.energy.gov/)

POTASSIUM HYDROXIDE

KOH is Potassium Hydroxide, also called Caustic Potash.It is produced in the United States by the electrolysis

of potassium chloride brine in electrolytic cells. When potassium chloride brine is fed to the electrolytic cell, the

process yields a solution of potassium hydroxide and co-products of chlorine and hydrogen. Other end uses for

potassium hydroxide include electroplating, herbicides, greases, catalysts, oxidizers, medicines, and alkaline-

electrolytic batteries. It is commonly used to make biodiesel. KOH dissolves a bit easier in methanol and a bit

forgiving on high titration oils than NaOH making it a good catalyst. It reacts with triglycerides to break them apart so

that the methanol can bond with the fatty acids and make biodiesel. (http://www.ercoworldwide.com/)
Review of Related Literature

Biodiesel production from Sesamumindicum L. seed oil: An optimization study (Dawodu, F.A., Ayodele, O.O.,

Bolanle-Ojo, T. 2013)

Conducted by F.A. Dawodu, O.O. Ayodele and T. Bolanle-Ojo of the Department of Chemistry, University of

Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria in 2013. Transesterification of Sesamumindicum L. oil was carried with methanol in the

presence of sodium methoxide and the parameters affecting the reaction; vegetable oil/methanol molar ratio, catalyst

concentration, reaction temperature and time were fully optimized by employing Central Composite Design method

(CCD). A quadratic polynomial was developed to predict the response as a function of independent variables and their

interactions and only the significant factors affecting the yield were fitted to a second-order response surface reduced

2FI model. At the optimum condition of 1:6 oil/methanol molar ratio, catalyst concentration of 0.75% and reaction

time of 30 min, biodiesel yield of 87.80% was achieved. The selected fuel properties were within the range set by

ASTM and EN bodies.

Extraction and Characteristics of Seed Kernel Oil from Mango (Mangiferaindica)(Nzikou, J.M., Kimbonguila, A.,

Matos, L., Lomouamou, B., Pambou-Tobi, N.P.G., Ndangui, C.B., Abena, A., Silou, Th.,Scher, J., and Desobry, S.

2009)

This study was conducted by the group of J.M. Nzikou, ENSP-UMNG, Laboratory of Food Physiochemistry

and Biotechnology, Pole of Excellence in Nutrition and Food in Brazaville-Congo. Congo Mango seeds were

collected and the kernels separated and dried. This study was carried out on mango seed kernels to clarify their

proximate composition and the characteristics of the extracted oil including unsaponifiable matter and fatty acid

composition. Mango seed kernels contained a considerable unsaponifable matter, and a low amount of crude protein.

Stearic acid was the main saturated fatty acid, while oleic acid was the major unsaturated fatty acid in all lipid classes.

Mangiferaindica seed kernels have ash

content of 3.2% (with the presence of following minerals: Ca, K, Na, Mg and P). This oil is very rich in

unsaponifiable matter and can thus find its application in cosmetic industry.
 MATERIALS AND METHODS

MATERIALS

Stirring Rod Alcohol lamp

Wire gauze Iron Stand with Iron Ring

Petri dish Mortar and Pestle

Piece of cloth Beaker

Lanzones Seeds Santol Seeds

General Procedure:

Preparation
of Preparing of
the Santol Preparing of the
the
Santol-Lanzones
Experiment and
Oil
al Lanzones seeds
Set-up

Testing the
Preparing the
Santol-Lanzones
Biofuel
Biofuel

1. Preparation of the Experimental Set-up

The researcher gathered first all the materials needed for this experiment. These materials were: Santol,

Lanzones, petri dish, mortar and pestle, iron stand with iron ring, stirring rod, alcohol lamp,a piece of cloth, wire

gauze and beaker.

2. Preparing of the Santol and Lanzones seeds

The researcher used 50 grams of Santol and Lanzones seeds. The seeds were washed and sun-dried for

one week. The dried seeds were crushed and pounded into smaller pieces using mortar and pestle.
3. Preparing of the Santol-Lanzones Oil

The researcher mixed the crushed Santol and Lanzones seeds with 50 mL water in a 250 mL beaker

and set to boil over an iron stand lit with alcohol lamp. The mixture was boiled for an hour and then set aside to

room temperature. When it had cooled down, the researcher filtered the mixture to separate the liquid from the

solid substance. The solid mixture was then wrapped in a piece of cloth to extract its oil.
4. Preparing the Biofuel

The researcher mixed 20 mL of extracted Santol-Lanzones oil with 80 mL Methanol with an addition

of potassium hydroxide as the catalyst. They stirred the solution to evenly distribute the different substance

poured into the mixture. The mixture produced a dark yellow color.

5. Testing the Santol-Lanzones Biofuel

The researcher tested Santol-Lanzonesfuel by putting it in an alcohol lamp. They lighted the alcohol

lamp fueled with Santol-Lanzonesfuel.