Dependable information from the Chemical Enquiries Help Desk in 48 hours.  Each month library staff look at one of the many enquiries received and highlight selected resources, including the Virtual Library, that provide relevant answers.   

The enquiry this month 

• Do you have any information and data on vegetable oil and uses as a fuel? (sunflower oil, castor oil, rapeseed oil, soybean oil and safflower)           

The following is just a snapshot of the information provided using the valuable resources of the RSC Virtual Library free to RSC members. 

Hawleys Condensed Chemical Dictionary through the Knovel full text e-books platform: 

Ricinus oil 
CAS: 8001-79-4 

Properties: Pale-yellowish transparent, viscous liquid. A nondrying oil. D 0.945-0.965 (25/25C), saponification value 178, iodine value 85, fp -10C. Flash p 445F (229C), autoignition temp 840F (448C). Combustible. Soluble in alcohol, benzene, chloroform, dextrorotatory.

Derivation: Castor bean seeds, Ricinus communis (Brazil, India, the former U.S.S.R., U.S.). Cold-pressed for first grade medicinal oil; hot pressed for common qualities. 

Uses: Plasticizer in lacquers, production of dibasic acids, lipsticks, polyurethane coatings etc

Chimica database through ChemVillage:

Ethanolysis of used frying oil. Biodiesel preparation and characterization
 
Transesterification of neat and used frying oil: Optimization for biodiesel production

Business Source Corporate and Environment Index databases through EBSCO with selected full text access:

Restaurant waste powers Tandus' Ga. boiler. 

Fried fuel. 

Alternative fuels: biodiesel eclipses autogas. 

The record Alternative fuels: biodiesel eclipses autogas mentions a company Statoil. EBSCO provided a clearly laid out company profile making it easy to identify Statoil's activities, top competitors, key employees etc.

As part of the services of the Chemical Enquiries Help Desk we can supplement the information above with references retrieved from Chemical Abstracts, Scopus, Web of Science.

Members can carry out their own high quality research from the Virtual Library simply by logging in to a resource with their membership number and password.