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Industrial Crops and Products 34 (2011) 10101016

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Industrial Crops and Products

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/indcrop

Optimizing mechanical oil extraction of Jatropha curcas L. seeds with respect to

press capacity, oil recovery and energy efciency
S. Karaj , J. Mller
Universitt Hohenheim, Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Tropics and Subtropics Group, Garbenstr 9, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 18 January 2011
Received in revised form 3 March 2011
Accepted 4 March 2011
Available online 27 April 2011
Keywords:
Physic nut
Oilseed
Biofuel
Screw press
Vegetable oil

a b s t r a c t
The objective of this study was to optimize the mechanical oil extraction of Jatropha curcas seeds by
increasing the efciency of oil recovery and decreasing oil residues in press cake. The experiments were
carried out with mechanical screw press type Komet D85-1G. Four setups were created by parameter
combination of two different screws (16 and 21.5 mm choke ring size), with two different press cylinders
(1 and 1.5 mm bore size), three different nozzles (8, 10 and 12 mm nozzle diameter) and three rotational
speeds (low, medium and high). Oil recovery reduced when rotational speed increases for all setups;
highest oil was 89.4% (m/m). The oil recovery was increasing when energy input increased and decreasing when seed material throughput increased. The relations between energy input and seed material
throughput followed a strict pattern, which correlated with oil recovery. This correlation can be used for
determining the optimal operation parameters.
2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Jatropha curcas L., belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae is a
shrub or tree that is propagated by cuttings and is widely planted
as a hedge to protect elds from browsing animals (Heller, 1996;
Sirisomboon et al., 2007). The plant produces toxic seeds and is
therefore non-edible to animals and humans. Toxicity of seeds is
due to the presence of curcine and diterpenes, mainly phorbol ester
(Heller, 1996; Makkar and Becker, 1997; Makkar et al., 1998, 2008;
Jongschaap et al., 2007).
J. curcas can be utilized for different purposes: erosion control, living fence, ornamental plant or source of re wood. The
bark is rich in tannin and produces a dark blue dye. Leaves have
been used for rearing of silkworm, in dyeing and in medicine as
anti-inammatory substance (Openshaw, 2000; Basha et al., 2009).
Seeds have been used as insecticide, soap and varnish production.
Seed cakes have been used as fertilizer, solid fuel or in biogas production. Non toxic varieties or detoxied press cake has been used
as feed for animal (Openshaw, 2000; Sirisomboon et al., 2007).
Due to depletion of fossil fuels and the green-house effect, the
application as biofuel is probably the most interesting from both
economical and ecological points of view (Beerens, 2007). Less
awareness was raised to possible human health hazard by using
biogenic fuels until it was found that strong mutagenic compounds
can be released from biofuel combustion (Krahl et al., 2009).

Corresponding author. Tel.: +49 711 459 22840; fax: +49 711 459 23298.
E-mail address: shkelqim karaj@uni-hohenheim.de (S. Karaj).
0926-6690/$ see front matter 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.indcrop.2011.03.009

The physical, mechanical and chemical properties as well as

potential use of extracted oil from J. curcas as transesteried oil,
or as a blend with diesel has been widely studied (Augustus et al.,
2002; Pramanik, 2003; Narayana and Ramesh, 2006; Sirisomboon
et al., 2007; Karaj and Mller, 2010; Kratzeisen and Mller, 2010).
The caloric value and cetane number of J. curcas oil are similar to
diesel, but the density and viscosity are much higher (Namasivayam
et al., 2007).
Various methods for recovering oil from seeds have been investigated (Shah et al., 2005; Lim et al., 2010; Qian et al., 2010).
Chemical extraction (solvent and enzymatic method) of J. curcas seeds has been studied and the optimal parameters for oil
extraction such as solvent type, temperature range, solvent to solid
ratio, processing time and particle size have also been considered
(Winkler, 1997; Shah et al., 2004, 2005; Hawash et al., 2008; Sayyar
et al., 2009).
The mechanical oil extraction of J. curcas was reported as suboptimal due to lack of knowledge about best operation parameters
(Shah et al., 2005). Openshaw (2000) has reported the use of sunower seed mechanical screw presses for extracting J. curcas seed
oil as unsuitable due to technical problems and low oil recovery.
Beerens (2007) has reported results from using two mechanical
screw presses: a mechanical cylinder press (BT50) and a strainer
press (Sayari). Maximum oil recovery was reported to be 79% for
BT50 screw press and 87% for Sayari strainer press after dual passing. Concerning the optimization of oil extraction efciency, neither
the inuence of different settings of the screw press nor the resulting dependent factors were reported in other studies. Therefore,
this study was aiming to analyse different designed variable such

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S. Karaj, J. Mller / Industrial Crops and Products 34 (2011) 10101016

as screw press, press cylinder, nozzle size and rotational speed to

optimize the mechanical oil extraction of J. curcas seeds by increasing the efciency of oil recovery with a mechanical cylinder screw
press (Komet D85-1G).
2. Materials and methods
2.1. J. curcas seed material
For this study, dried J. curcas seeds were imported from
Jaipur, Rajasthan (India). The place of origin was characterized by
annual precipitation of 10001200 mm and a temperature range
of 1535 C. The plantation was 1112 years old and its annual
yield was calculated to be around 3500 kg/ha. Seeds were harvested manually during NovemberDecember 2007 and stored in
jute bags in a warehouse facility at temperatures between 14 C
and 30 C. After transport to Germany, J. curcas seeds were cleaned
with a pneumatic separator to remove impurities and then stored
at room temperature at a range of 1822 C, attaining a moisture
content of 8.3% (wet base) and oil content of about 36%. Moisture
content of seeds was not altered and unshelled seeds were used for
oil extraction optimization.
2.2. Mechanical screw press Komet D85-1G
The experiments were carried out with mechanical screw
press Komet D85-1G (IBG Monforts Oekotec, Mnchengladbach,
Germany) powered by a 3.0 kW electric motor. Maximal capacity
in terms of seed throughput was 25 kg/h. Different sensors were
installed for measuring direct and indirect parameters such as, temperatures, pressure, torque and rotational speed of the screw and
oil recovery (Fig. 1).
Oil was collected and weighed after each experiment at oil
collection point (XI) into light-proof plastic containers. The temperature sensors were installed in ve different positions (T1T5).
Body temperature of the mechanical press was measured along
the screw shaft via thermocouples type K at point T1, T2 and T3.
Temperature of extracted oil was measured by thermocouple just
after passing out of the press cylinder holes at point T4. Press cake
temperature was measured 35 mm behind the nozzle outlet with
an infrared sensor (Raytek TX, Berlin, Germany) at point T5, and
the whole system was monitored by an infrared thermal camera
(Thermal Imager Fluke Ti20, Eindhoven, The Netherlands).
A mold cavity pressure sensor (p) (6157BB, Kistler Instruments,
Winterthur, Switzerland) was installed close to the compression zone (X) where the highest temperature and pressure was
expected during operation. Screw speed was adjusted between
0 and 600 rpm by a variable speed alternator (XIV), and a torque
transducer sensor (E) (BRBK-200-n, ETH Messtechnik, Gschwend,
Germany) was installed for measuring rotational speed () and
torque () between motor and screw press cylinder via a coupling
device (XII).

1011

limit range for different screws was determined through preliminary tests. Screw R11 allowed for the application of lower speeds
than screw R8 without jamming during pressing. Therefore, the
speed levels for screw press R11 were set lower than for screw
press R8. The dependent variables such as oil content, oil recovery, system temperatures and time required for pressing as well as
torque and pressure in the pressing chamber were monitored via
weight measurements and sensor control (Table 1). Data was collected by a data acquisition switch unit (34970A Agilent, Hewlett
Packard, Palo Alto, CA) and transferred via BenchLink Datalogger
software to a laboratory computer.
Oil recovery efciency was the most important dependent variable considered in this study. The effects of independent variables
on oil recovery optimization could be explained by considering
the dependent variables. For increasing the extraction efciency
increased temperature is benecial. Since friction inside the press
cylinders generates heat which is passed in the oil, reducing the viscosity of the crushed seed material and facilitating oil brake point,
which is the applied pressure for deliberating oil from crushed
seed material (Sukumaran and Singh, 1989). For optimization of oil
recovery, pressure is the most interesting variable to monitor. Pressure is expected to alter when independent variables are changing
and a general hypothesis is that higher pressure will lead to higher
temperature generation and higher oil recovery efciency (Willems
et al., 2008, 2009).
Oil recovery efciency was calculated by comparing the oil content in the press cake to the initial oil content in the seeds extracted
by Soxhlet apparatus, three replicates respectively, and using the
following formula (Beerens, 2007):

O = 1

OC /(1 OC )
OS /(1 OS )

100

(1)

with O as oil recovery efciency in % (m/m), OC as oil content in

press cake and OS as oil content in seed, in g (m/m).
Throughput was calculated by dividing the seed sample weight
by the time required for pressing the sample as follows:
TP =

S
t

(2)

with TP throughput in kg/h, S sample size in kg, t time in h.

In order to estimate the energy input of each extraction process,
power was calculated as follows:
P =

(3)

with P as power in W,  as torque in Nm and as angular velocity.

The specic energy input per kg seed processed (ES ) in kWh kg1
was calculated as ratio of total energy (Et ) in kWh to sample size
(S) in kg:
ES =

Et
S

(4)

where Et = Pt, time (t) in hour.

2.4. Experimental procedure

2.3. Independent and dependent variables

A number of design parameters were considered in this study for
optimizing oil extraction using the mechanical screw press (Fig. 2).
These included: (i) two different screws with choke worm shaft ring
size 16 and 21.5 mm, labelled R8 and R11, (ii) two different press
cylinders with mesh size 1 and 1.5 mm, labelled P1 and P1.5, and
(iii) three different nozzles with restriction size 8, 10 and 12 mm,
labelled N8, N10 and N12.
The rotational speed of the screw was adjusted on three levels; low, medium and high speed, namely 220, 290 and 355 rpm
for screw R8 and 115, 180 and 255 rpm for screw R11. The speed

Four different experiment setups were carried out with combinations of different design parameters in order to determine the
effect of independent variables on dependent variables (Table 2).
In Setup 1, screw and press cylinder sizes (R8 P1) were kept constant, whereas nozzle was varied in combination with speed. The
constant parameters for the other setups were R8 P1.5, R11 P1 and
R11 P1.5 respectively for Setups 2, 3 and 4, where the same variation of nozzle was applied through all setups. Speed was altered on
three levels from 220, 290 and 355 rpm on rst and second setup,
whereas on third and fourth setup speed levels were 115, 180 and
255 rpm, respectively.

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S. Karaj, J. Mller / Industrial Crops and Products 34 (2011) 10101016

I
II

p
III IV

VI

VII
VIII

XIII

XIV

T1

XII

T5
T2

T3
T4

XI

IX

Fig. 1. Mechanical screw press for oil extraction and installed sensors, (I) feeding container, (II) feeding hopper, (III) housing, (IV) screw, (V) press cylinder with oil outlet holes,
(VI) heating, (VII) nozzle, (VIII) press cake, (IX) press head, (X) compression zone, (XI) oil collector, (XII) coupling, (XIII) motor, (XIV) speed alternator, (T1T5) temperature
sensors, (p) pressure sensor, (E) torque transducer sensor.

Fig. 2. Independent variables of mechanical screw press Komet D85-1G.

A batch of 10 0.01 kg of unshelled J. curcas seeds with average

(X, Y, Z) dimension size of 18. 4, 11.2 and 9.1 mm, length, width
and breadth, respectively was used for each experiment. Before the
pressing process was initiated, the press head (the casing around
the compression zone and the nozzle, Fig. 1) was heated with an
electrical device to 90 C. This was done to prevent the press from
jamming at the beginning of the operation (Ferchau, 2000; Beerens,
2007). During preparatory heating, 5 kg of seeds were fed into the
hopper and all sensors were installed (as illustrated in Fig. 1). After
the temperature reached 90 C on the press head, the mechanical

screw press was operated with the adjusted speed (according to

the setup) and the electrical heater was switched off. The 5 kg of
seeds were pressed until all sensors were stabilized at given design
parameters (such as temperatures, pressure, torque and rotational
speed) and then the precise sample of 10 kg was fed into the hopper.
The oil collection point was manually cleaned before the pressing
of the 10 kg sample took place. The oil was collected in light-proof
plastic containers and the press cake was collected in a plastic crate.
The raw oil and press cake were weighed after each experiment
and taken to the laboratory for additional analyses. The data col-

Table 1
Dependent variables for optimization of oil extraction.
Variable

Symbol

Unit

Method

Oil content in seeds

Temperature 1
Temperature 2
Temperature 3
Temperature 4
Temperature 5
Time
Torque
Pressure

OS
T1
T2
T3
T4
T5
t

p

C
h
Nm
bar

Soxhlet (DGF-Einheitsmethoden, 2006)

Thermocouple Type K
Thermocouple Type K
Thermocouple Type K
Thermocouple Type K
Infrared temperature sensor
Computer time
Torque transducer, BRBK-200-n
Mold pressure sensor, 6157BB

Manufacturer
Greisinger Electronic GmbH
Greisinger Electronic GmbH
Greisinger Electronic GmbH
Greisinger Electronic GmbH
Raytek TX
ETH messtechnik GmbH
Kistler Instrument, AG

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S. Karaj, J. Mller / Industrial Crops and Products 34 (2011) 10101016

1013

Table 2
Experimental setup: R8 and R11 screw press with 16 and 21.5 mm choke ring; P1
and P1.5 press cylinders with 1 and 1.5 mm hole size; N8, N10 and N12 nozzles with
8, 10 and 12 mm restriction size.
Setup 1
R8 P1

Setup 2
R8 P1.5

Setup 3
R11 P1

Setup 4
R11 P1.5

N8 220
N8 290
N8 355
N10 220
N10 290
N10 355
N12 220
N12 290
N12 355

N8 220
N8 290
N8 355
N10 220
N10 290
N10 355
N12 220
N12 290
N12 355

N8 115
N8 180
N8 255
N10 115
N10 180
N10 255
N12 115
N12 180
N12 255

N8 115
N8 180
N8 255
N10 115
N10 180
N10 255
N12 115
N12 180
N12 255

rotational speed in rpm.

lected were statistically analysed using standard statistics such as

mean values, median, and interquartile and regression analyses by
Origin Pro-8 software.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Temperature generation during pressing process
Fig. 3 shows a typical temperature pattern on the mechanical
screw press during pressing of J. curcas seeds. The screw press body
temperature rises from point T1 (35 C) to T3 (up to 100 C).
Since T3 was located at the compression zone where the resistance of seed material against the press head was the highest,
temperature recorded at this point was also the highest. The outside
surface temperatures of the press head was detected up to 70 C,
whereas in bore holes temperatures up to 100 C were detected by
thermography.
The temperatures generated at all measuring points when using
different screw presses such as R8 or R11 are depicted in Fig. 4.
The highest temperature was generated by using screw press
R8 rather than R11 in both graphics; this was due to the difference in screw design. Screw press R8 had a smaller worm shaft size
resulting in higher resistance of seeds against the screw press and
generating more heat than screw press R11. The graphics conrm
that highest temperature was generated at compression zone (T3)
for all analysed setups.
Oil temperature (T4) and press cake temperature (T5) depended
on temperature created at the compression zone (T3) and related
dependency was found as depicted in Fig. 5.
Fig. 5 shows that when temperature at the compression zone
(T3) rises the temperature of oil (T4) rises as well. The statistical
analyses for oil temperature (T4) reveal a good correlation to temperature at the compression zone (T3) that can be expressed as an

Fig. 4. Temperature at different points (T1T5) on four setups when using two
different screws (R8, R11) and two different press cylinders (P1, P1.5); error bars
indicate min and max values of each temperature measuring point, and boxes depict
median, mean values and interquartile range from 25-th to 75-th percentiles.

exponential function (R2 = 0.651, p 0.01):

T4 = 0.011 e(T3/14.7) + 64.39

(5)

Also temperature of press cake (T5) increases simultaneously

with the temperature at the compression zone (T3). However, here
the dependency follows a linear correlation (R2 = 0.801, p 0.01):
T5 = 1.13 T3 40.11

(6)

Since the temperature of oil and press cake was difcult to

be measured directly via thermocouples, due to external environmental factors (conventions and irradiation) a reference measuring
point has to be introduced, where the external environmental factors are minimal. The reference measuring point should estimate
oil temperature and press cake temperatures based on temperature values measured. It was observed that temperature at the
bore holes of press head (Fig. 3) was not affected from wind convection and irradiation meaning constant temperature through all
pressing conditions. These points might be suitable for indirect estimation of oil and press cake temperatures based on model 5 and 6.
In order to prevent oil deterioration (acid value, phosphorous, calcium, magnesium, oxidation stability and water content) and press
cake protein denaturation by overheating, a temperature control
system of oil and press cake temperature should be implemented
on the mechanical screw press.
3.2. Oil recovery optimization

Fig. 3. Temperature pattern of the screw press (Thermal Imager Fluke Ti20).

The dependent variables such as oil recovery efciency, oil

residue in press cake, seed material throughput, specic energy
input, torque and pressure generated are given in Table 3. It was

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S. Karaj, J. Mller / Industrial Crops and Products 34 (2011) 10101016

Table 3
Oil recovery efciency, oil residues in press cake, seed material throughput, specic energy, torque and pressure generated during the process of oil extraction.
Setup name
S. 1 (R8 P1)b
N8 220
N8 290
N8 355
N10 220
N10 290
N10 355
N12 220
N12 290
N12 355
S. 2 (R8 P1.5)b
N8 220
N8 290
N8 355
N10 220
N10 290
N10 355
N12 220
N12 290
N12 355
S. 3 (R11 P1)b
N8 115
N8 180
N8 255
N10 115
N10 180
N10 255
N12 115
N12 180
N12 255
S. 4 (R11 P1.5)b
N8 115
N8 180
N8 255
N10 115
N10 180
N10 255
N12 115
N12 180
N12 255
a
b

Oil recoverya
O , % (m/m)

Oil residuesa
OC , % (m/m)

Throughput TP, kg/h

Energya ES , kWh/kg

Torque , Nm

Pressure p, bar

84.2
83.9
81.2
83.9
82.7
81.4
84.8
83.6
81.8

8.1
8.3
9.6
8.3
8.8
9.4
7.9
8.0
9.3

3.79
4.72
5.56
3.78
4.96
6.06
3.85
4.63
5.99

0.377
0.393
0.425
0.405
0.360
0.351
0.416
0.431
0.412

58.9
59.0
60.6
61.7
58.3
56.9
70.0
72.7
64.0

4.8
4.6
5.6
4.9
4.9
5.2
5.1
5.5
6.0

78.0
62.9
47.5
67.6
46.1
43.7
49.5
58.6
46.8

7.8
8.0
11.3
5.9
4.8
4.3
6.8
18.4
19.2

89.3
86.8
84.8
85.7
84.9
83.5
84.6
83.8
82.5

5.6
6.9
7.8
7.4
7.8
8.5
8.0
8.3
8.9

4.00
5.19
6.27
3.94
5.13
6.28
4.08
5.18
6.35

0.462
0.445
0.446
0.460
0.432
0.443
0.445
0.423
0.409

79.4
76.4
75.6
77.0
72.6
74.8
74.9
71.1
68.3

4.4
4.9
4.7
4.8
4.7
4.6
5.0
4.9
4.7

71.0
64.4
58.4
84.7
75.5
61.8
57.3
59.1
36.6

19.5
17.0
9.5
14.9
13.2
8.2
7.6
11.3
5.4

84.5
76.3
69.8
81.3
73.7
82.1
76.6
63.2
51.5

8.0
11.8
14.5
9.5
12.9
9.1
11.6
17.1
21.4

5.36
8.55
11.65
5.80
8.94
11.61
5.99
10.19
12.96

0.293
0.284
0.271
0.255
0.262
0.247
0.265
0.251
0.222

131.5
126.0
119.1
119.9
114.1
105.5
131.6
122.4
105.4

15.3
4.9
5.7
7.5
6.2
7.7
5.3
4.9
7.3

85.1
79.7
79.2
42.4
38.8
54.7
67.3
67.9
34.5

21.5
15.8
17.6
14.1
13.6
7.4
18.0
12.4
8.0

83.9
78.4
69.8
76.7
66.6
32.2
65.8
55.8
40.0

8.3
10.8
14.5
11.6
15.8
27.6
16.1
19.9
25.2

6.11
9.56
13.39
6.77
11.88
14.33
7.03
11.56
14.49

0.278
0.261
0.255
0.245
0.237
0.201
0.228
0.202
0.158

141.3
131.1
127.6
138.3
131.1
108.9
133.8
116.2
84.6

4.8
7.0
3.9
5.3
6.0
9.3
5.5
6.8
8.2

75.2
51.6
33.9
40.9
37.3
35.5
44.4
37.3
20.4

22.1
13.6
11.5
9.9
12.6
7.0
9.7
6.0
4.4

O , OC and ES were smaller than 5% STD.

R screw, P press cylinder.

observed that screw R8 (Setups 1 and 2) shows higher oil recovery

than screw R11 (Setups 3 and 4) even though R11 was operated
with lower rotational speed than R8. The highest oil recovery of
89.4% (m/m) was achieved by using Setup 2 (R8 P1.5 N8 220) and
the lowest oil recovery efciency of about 32.2% (m/m) by using
Setup 4 (R11 P1.5 N10 255). Oil residue in press cake was higher
in Setups 3 and 4 than in 1 and 2.
Table 3 shows that screw press R8 (Setups 1 and 2) requires more
specic energy than screw press R11. Lower energy input means
lower oil recovery efciency, higher oil residue in press cake and
higher seed material throughput.
Torque and pressure showed similar trends within the setups,
mainly that when screw speed increased torque, pressure
decreased. Torque generated during oil extraction was higher for
screw press R11 (Setups 3 and 4) than screw press R8 (Setups
1 and 2). Torque is related with resistance of seeds on screw
press against press cylinder. Since more materials were processed with screw press R11 (due to choke ring dimensions)
than screw press R8 the resistance created and resulting torque
was expected to be higher. It was observed that torque was
decreasing when rotational speed increases within setups, but this
trend was not proven to be the same for Setup 1. This might
be explained with the fact that higher speed means higher temperature and lower viscosity results in lower resistance of seed
material.

The radial pressure generated during pressing reduced with the

increase of rotational speed and with increase of nozzle size. Theoretically, higher screw speed means more seed material throughput
and higher oil content residual in press cake since less time is available for the oil to drain from the solids. At higher speed the viscosity
thus remains lower resulting in less pressure build-up and more oil
content in press cake (Beerens, 2007; Willems et al., 2008, 2009).
Fig. 6 shows the correlation of specic energy input and oil
recovery efciency versus material throughput. The statistical analyses for specic energy input (ES ) and oil recovery efciency (O )
revealed a high correlation to seed material throughput (TP) that
can be expressed as linear function (R2 = 0.729) and exponential
function (R2 = 0.778), respectively:
ES = 0.5124 0.02362 TP

(7)

O = 85.834 0.602 e(TP/3.345)

(8)

For each added unit of material throughput the specic energy

input and oil recovery efciency would decrease according to the
linear function (7) and exponential function (8). The model could be
used only for the given throughput data (316 kg/h) and mechanical screw press (Komet D85-1G). The highest oil recovery was
achieved with the lowest material throughput, for instance at 4 kg/h
throughput the oil recovery efciency was around 90%. On the
other hand lower throughput leads to highest specic energy input,

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1015

1.6

Oil Production OP, kgoil /h

3.0

1.4

2.5

1.2
2.0

1.0
0.8

1.5

0.6

1.0

0.4

Oil production

0.5

Energy Efficiency
0.0

10

12

14

0.2

0.0
16

Specific Energy E , kWh kgoil-1

S. Karaj, J. Mller / Industrial Crops and Products 34 (2011) 10101016

Throughput TP, kgseed /h

Fig. 7. Oil production capacity and specic energy vs. throughput of seeds.

Fig. 5. Correlation between oil temperature (T4) and press cake temperature (T5)
vs. press head temperature (T3) on all analysed setups.

where 4 kg/h throughput required around 0.40 kWh/kg specic

energy.
The optimal operation point can either be based on maximizing
oil production capacity or specic pressing energy. Fig. 7 shows the
oil production per unit of time based on oil recovery efciency (Eq.
(8)) and specic energy (Eq. (7)) versus seed material throughput.
The oil production capacity increases with increase of seed
material throughput and the maximal oil production capacity of
2.76 kgoil /h was achieved at a throughput of 11 kgseed /h. It was
observed that additional increase of throughput leads to decrease
of oil production capacity. This was because oil recovery efciency
(Eq. (8), Fig. 7) is rapidly decreasing when throughput further
increases.
The specic pressing energy which is the ratio of oil production and energy input needed for pressing reached the maximum
return of 1.4 kgoil /kWh electrical energy also at a throughput of
11 kgseed /h. The same trend was observed for energy efciency,
where additional increase of seed material throughput leads to
decrease of energy efciency.

4. Conclusions

Fig. 6. Specic energy input and oil recovery efciency vs. seed material throughput.

The temperature generated on mechanical screw press was created due to resistance of seed material against the press head. Oil
temperature depended on press cylinder and press head temperatures; whereas press cake temperature was only inuenced by heat
generated from the press head. Temperatures up to 140 C were
recorded and highest temperature was generated by using screw
R8 rather than R11.
Oil recovery decreased and oil content in press cake and seed
material throughput was increased when rotational speed of screw
press was higher. Oil extraction with screw press Komet D85-1G
was most efcient by using a screw with 16 mm choke ring size, a
press cylinder with 1.5 mm bore size and a nozzle with 8 mm diameter in contrast to other combinations. Specic energy input and oil
recovery are correlated to seed material throughput. Throughput
can be adjusted by rotational speed of the screw to maximise either
oil production or energy efciency, in which fortunately both maxima where close together. The optimal operation point for screw
press Komet D85-1G was at 11 kg/h Jatropha seed throughput,
resulting in a press capacity of 2.67 kg/h in terms of recovered oil.
The oil extraction efciency was reaching study objectives. Future
studies should focus on analysing different varieties, cultivation
origins and production practices as well as temperature inuence
on oil and press cake quality indentifying threshold temperature
where oil and protein deterioration does not occur.

Author's personal copy

1016

S. Karaj, J. Mller / Industrial Crops and Products 34 (2011) 10101016

Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the Bundesministerium fr Bildung
und Forschung, Berlin (Germany) for nancial support of Project
0330799A, Optimization of de-shelling and oil extraction of Jatropha curcas L. for direct use in plant oil stoves (01.06.2007 to
30.06.2010).
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