The role being played by fuel oil (diesel oil) in compression ignition engines and machines cannot be overemphasized due to its high efficiency. However, there are some flaws in its usage which give rise to environmental concern; such as emission of toxic gases like carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen and so on. The aforementioned gases contribute to cancer in human and lead to increase in global warming and ozone layer depletion. This has necessitated the search for an alternative eco-friendly fuel for internal combustion engine with the view to reduce the emission of gases generated by the inevitable use of diesel engine and also to increase the engine performance. The use of bio-fuels is an effective measure to substitute fossil fuels and reduce particulate matters for diesel engines. Many researchers suggest the use of biodiesel blends of between 6 to 20 percent volume of biodiesel. In this study, biodiesel which was used as the alternative fuel was produced by conversion of the groundnut oil through alkali-based transesterification with potassium hydroxide (KOH) as catalyst. The blending was carried out in the following percentage by volume of the biodiesel 10 percent, 20 percent, 30 percent and 100 percent corresponding to B10, B20, B30 and B100 respectively. Experimental analysis was carried out using biodiesel blends and the characterization of the blend was tested for properties such as: specific gravity (density), flash point, viscosity, and so on, the results compared with available standards. The density was found to be between 830.9kg/m3 and 867.4kg/m3 , the viscosity falls within 1.76mm/s2 and 2.1mm/s2 while the flash point was between 60oC and 160oC, increasing as the quantity of biodiesel increases. The results of the blends show that the biodiesel blend B30

Keywords : Biodiesel, Alkali-Based Transesterification, Potassium Hydroxide (KOH)