USING CHARACTERIZATION AND SYNTHESIS OF FATLIQU OR FROM SUDANESE CASTOR OIL

Castor oil is classed as semi - drying oil because it oxidizes on exposure to air, giving a gummy film, and can be highly sulphated to make it miscible in water. In the raw condition it is seldom used in fatliquoring of leather because the softness and flexi bility of the leather will decrease on storage as the castor oil dries. Castor seeds were collected, sundried, and crushed. Castor oil was extracted in a soxhlet apparatus using hexane as a solvent. . A yield of 90%was obtained. Physical and chemical analy ses were carried out for the obtained crude oil. The crude oil was converted to fatliquor by sulphation process using sulphuric acid. The physical and chemical analyses were carried out for the produced fatliquor and compared with the standards.This paper carried out experimental study, through extraction and characterization of castor oil. Normal hexane was used as a solvent for the extraction process. The characterization analysis revealed that tested parameters, which include specific gravity, refractive index, acid, saponification and iodine values for both crude and refined castor oil produced, were within the ASTM standard specifications.