Research Projects

Aleurites fordii tree is spread widely in western China, Argentina, Paraguay, Africa, India and United States. In India, it is also commonly referred to as Tung tree. The tree usually bears fruit within 24 years and reaches maximum productivity at around 10-12 years of age. The productivity of Tung oil mainly varies from 300 to 450 kg/ha. The oil content of fruit is between 14-20%, in the kernel 53-60% and the in seed 30-40%. Tung oil has been used in different industrial applications such as ceramic, paint, paper and cloth production. However, recently Tung oil (Aleutites fordii) has been regarded as a promising non-edible source of biodiesel production.

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A semi-continuous type biodiesel plant has been designed, developed and tested at CMERI, Ludhiana. The plant having capacity of 600 litres / day is able to produce biodiesel from any edible and non-edible vegetable oil irrespective of its FFA content. This plant was utilized for making biodiesel based on optimized parameters to produce biodiesel from Tung seed oil.