3. Introduction
• Biodiesel
• is the name of a clean burning
alternative fuel, simple to use,
biodegradable, nontoxic, free of
sulfur and aromatics
• Produced from
• Vegetable oils and animal fat
• Biodiesel contains
• No petroleum, blending at any
level with petroleum gasoline
• It can be used
• Diesel engines such as
Transportation vehicles, trains,
agricultural vehicles
Biodiesel
Glycerin
4. History of biodiesel
• 1892
• February 23, Rudolf Diesel
obtained a patent
• 1900
• One of the new diesel engines
featured at the Paris exposition
was powered by peanut oil
• 1937
• G.Chavanne was granted a
Belgian patent for an ethyl
ester of palm oil
• 1938
• A passenger bus fueled with
palm oil ethyl ester passed the
route between Brussels and
Louvain
Rudolf diesel
(1858-1913)
5. History of biodiesel
Rudolph Diesel
• 1984
• The word biodiesel was probably first used as a kind of fuel
• 1985
• The first biodiesel manufacturing plant specifically designed to produce biodiesel
was started at agricultural college in Austria
• 2001
• A standard for biodiesel was published by American Society for Testing and
Materials (ASTM)
6. Biodiesel production
• How biodiesel is made
• The reaction is oil alcohol biodiesel glycerin
• The chemical reaction that converts a vegetable oils and
animal fat to biodiesel is called “Transesterification”
• Oils and fats react with methanol or ethanol, then make
methyl or ethyl esters (the chemical name for biodiesel)
• Methanol is the most common alcohol used in process
7. Biodiesel production
• The chemical reaction used
to make biodiesel requires a
catalyst in order to speed up
the process
• Methoxide is the common
catalyzer
8. Biodiesel production
• Sources
Vegetable oils
Animal fats
Waste oils
Canola, Palm, Sunflower, Soybean
Microalgae, Peanuts, Camelina
Cattle, Pork, Poultry, Fish
Industrial oils, home oils, restaurant oils
9. Soybeans
• Primary source for
biodiesel production in
U.S.
• Approximately 75.5 million
acres of soybeans in
production (2006)
• Approximately 2 billion
gallons of oil produced
annually
The distribution of soybeans’ farmland
10. Canola/Rapeseed
• Rapeseed is a member of
the mustard family
• Both spring and winter
varieties grown
• Depends on geographical
location
• Winter crop in North Carolina
• Good oil yield
• 70% of feedstock for EU
biodiesel production
Canola
11. Sunflowers
• Wide geographical range for production
• Market value is high for edible oil and seeds, birdseeds
• Second largest biodiesel feedstock in the EU
The distribution of the sunflowers’ farmlands in the U.S sunflower
12. Peanuts
• Nearly 15% of peanuts are
crushed for oil use in U.S.
• Production limited to
southern regions of U.S.
• Research on “industrial”
peanuts-not suitable for
human consumption- being
conducted at the University of
Georgia
The distribution of the Peanuts’ farmlands in the U.S
13. Algae
• Grows where few other plants could survive
• Hot climes
• Salt water
• Microalgae
• Seaweed, kelp
• Fast growing marine and freshwater plants that can grow up to 60 m in length
• Emergent
• Plants that grow partially submerged in bogs and marshes
• Microalgae
• Microscopic photosynthetic organisms
• Single cell plants - Efficiency of microbes combined with the ability to capture CO2
photosynthetically
• Produce up to 60% of their body weight as natural oil or lipids
• Lipids as feed for biodiesel production
Solar bioreactor microalgae oil biodiesel
18. Biodiesel Blends
• Biodiesel can be blended
and used in many different
concentrations
• Pure biodiesel = B100
• B5 (5% biodiesel, 95% diesel)
• B2 (2% biodiesel, 98% diesel)
• Most common blend
• B20 (20% biodiesel)
Biodiesel blends
21. Advantages
• Renewable fuel, obtained from vegetable oils or animal fats
• Low toxicity, in comparison with diesel fuel
• Lower emissions of contaminants: carbon monoxide, polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons, aldehydes
• Lower health risk, due to reduce emissions of carcinogenic substances
• No sulfur dioxide(SO2) emissions
• May be blended with diesel fuel at any proportion, both fuels may be mixed
during the fuel supply to vehicles
• Excellent properties as lubricant
• It is the only alternative fuel that can be used in a conventional diesel engine,
without modifications
• Used cooking oils and fat residues from meat processing may be used as raw
materials
22. Disadvantages
• Slightly higher fuel consumption due to the lower calorific value of
biodiesel
• Slightly higher nitrous oxide( NOx) emissions than diesel fuel
• Higher freezing point than diesel fuel. This may be inconvenient in cold
climates
• It is less stable than diesel fuel, and therefore long-term storage(more
than six month) of biodiesel is not recommended
