Jon Van Gerpen

The biodiesel handbook

The second edition of this invaluable handbook covers converting vegetable oils, animal fats, and used oils into biodiesel fuel. The Biodiesel Handbook delivers solutions to issues associated with biodiesel feedstocks, production issues, quality control, viscosity, stability, applications, emissions, and other environmental impacts, as well as the status of the biodiesel industry worldwide. * Incorporates the major research and other developments in the world of biodiesel in a comprehensive and practical format* Includes reference materials and tables on biodiesel standards, unit conversions, and technical details in four appendices* Presents details on other uses of biodiesel and other alternative diesel fuels from oils and fats

A high‐oleic‐acid and low‐palmitic‐acid soybean: agronomic performance and evaluation as a feedstock for biodiesel

Phenotypic characterization of soybean event 335-13, which possesses oil with an increased oleic acid content (> 85%) and reduced palmitic acid content (< 5%), was conducted across multiple environments during 2004 and 2005. Under these conditions, the stability of the novel fatty acid profile of the oil was not influenced by environment. Importantly, the novel soybean event 335-13 was not compromised in yield in both irrigated and non-irrigated production schemes. Moreover, seed characteristics, including total oil and protein, as well as amino acid profile, were not altered as a result of the large shift in the fatty acid profile. The novel oil trait was inherited in a simple Mendelian fashion. The event 335-13 was also evaluated as a feedstock for biodiesel. Extruded oil from event 335-13 produced a biodiesel with improved cold flow and enhanced oxidative stability, two critical fuel parameters that can limit the utility of this renewable transportation fuel.

Exergy analysis of engines fuelled with biodiesel from high oleic soybeans based on experimental values

This study dealt with energy and exergy analyses of a John Deere 4045T diesel engine run with no. 2 diesel fuel, Soybean oil Methyl Ester (SME) and High-Oleic soybean oil Methyl Ester (HOME) at 1400 1/min. It was aimed at determining energy and exergy efficiencies, energy losses and exergy destructions of the combustion process and comparing exergetically the fuels used. The specific exergy of the fuels was calculated to be efuel,No.2 Diesel > efuel,HOME > efuel,SME, while energy (thermal) and exergy efficiencies were 40.5% and 37.8%, respectively. There were no statistically significant differences between the fuels based on the Tukey method.

Physical Properties and Composition Detection of Biodiesel-diesel Fuel Blends

Biodiesel is an oxygenated, sulfur-free, biodegradable, non-toxic, and environmentally friendly alternative diesel fuel. Biodiesel can be derived from renewable resources, such as vegetable oils, animal fats, and waste restaurant greases. One of the attractive characteristics of biodiesel is that its use does not require any significant modifications to the diesel engine, so the engine does not have to be dedicated for biodiesel. However, due to its different properties, biodiesel will cause some changes in the engine performance and emissions including lower power and higher oxides of nitrogen. Biodiesel can be blended in any proportion with petroleum-based diesel fuel and the impact of the changes is usually proportional to the fraction of biodiesel being used. If the biodiesel-diesel fuel blend level were known, these changes could be eliminated by the engines electronic control system. The objective of this study was the investigation of the effect of biodiesel blend level on density, speed of sound, and isentropic bulk modulus at higher pressures, and at 20 °C and 40 °C. Also, blend detection with a commercial fuel composition sensor, and the effect of temperature, water, and alcohol on this detection was investigated.

Biodiesel Blend Detection Using a Fuel Composition Sensor

Biodiesel is an alternative diesel fuel consisting of the alkyl monoesters of fatty acids from vegetable oils and animal fats. Biodiesel can be used in diesel engines as a pure fuel or in blends with petroleum-based diesel fuel. To maintain optimum performance and meet emission regulations, it may be necessary to measure the composition of blended fuels and adjust the fuel injection timing and other injection parameters during operation. The objective of this study was to investigate the suitability of using a commercial Flexible Fuel Composition Sensor for the detection of biodiesel composition in biodiesel/diesel fuel blends. Twelve different biodiesel fuel samples were tested including pure esters and esters from soybean oil, tallow, lard, canola oil, and yellow grease. The sensor produced a frequency output between 58.75 and 60.23 Hz for all of the biodiesel samples. Six different diesel fuel samples were also tested including commercial No.1 diesel fuel and EPA emission certification fuel. All of the diesel fuel samples gave frequencies between 51.84 and 52.62 Hz. The frequency output of the sensor was observed to be linearly proportional to the percentage of biodiesel in blend. The 7.14 Hz average difference from diesel fuel to biodiesel is sufficient to use this fuel composition sensor for blend detection of biodiesel blended fuels.

Application of ultrasonication in transesterification processes for biodiesel production

In biodiesel production, adequate mixing is required to create sufficient contact between the vegetable oil or animal fat and alcohol, especially at the beginning of the reaction. Application of ultrasonication provides sufficient mixing and energy so that the transesterification can proceed at a faster rate due to two effects. First, ultrasonic cavitation and microbubble formation, which are caused by the ultrasonic energy introduced by the sonotrode, greatly improve the interfacial contact between the immiscible methanol and plant oil/animal fat mixture, thus increasing the reaction rate. Second, the formation and bursting of microbubbles caused by ultrasonic cavitation intensifies the local energy transfer and energizes the reactant molecules, thus enhancing the overall reaction rate. The other possible beneficial aspect of ultrasonication may be ultrasonic energy-induced free radical formation, which initiates chain reactions, as has been observed in other organic systems, although it is not fully understood in transesterification yet.

Fuel Property Effects on Biodiesel

Biodiesel is an environmentally friendly alternative diesel fuel obtained from renewable resources, such as vegetable oils, animal fats, and recycled restaurant greases. It is described in ASTM standard D 6751-02 as: a fuel comprised of mono-alkyl esters of long chain fatty acids derived from vegetable oils or animal fats. Biodiesel is oxygenated, sulfur-free, biodegradable, and nontoxic. One of the attractive characteristics of biodiesel is that it does not require any significant modifications to the diesel engine, so the engine does not have to be dedicated for biodiesel. However, due to its different properties, such as a higher cetane number, lower volatility, and lower energy content, biodiesel may cause some changes in the engine performance and emissions. These different properties can effect the injection timing and the diesel combustion process causing lower power and higher oxides of nitrogen. The objective of this study was the investigation of biodiesel fuel properties such as cetane number, fuel volatility, and energy content on biodiesel combustion. The results of heat release analysis are presented from measured cylinder pressure data on a turbocharged diesel engine fueled with biodiesel from soybean oil, biodiesel from animal grease, and No. 2 diesel fuel.

Basics of Diesel Engines and Diesel Fuels

Publisher Summary The diesel engine has been the engine of choice for heavy-duty applications in agriculture, construction, industrial, and on-highway transport for more than 50 years. Its early popularity could be attributed to its ability to use the portion of the petroleum crude oil that had previously been considered a waste product from the refining of gasoline. Later, the diesels durability, high torque capacity, and fuel efficiency ensured its role in the most demanding applications. Although diesel engines have not been widely used in passenger cars in the United States ( 50% of the total market. In the United States, on-highway diesel engines now consume greater than 40 billion gallons of diesel fuel per year and virtually all of this is in trucks. At the present time, only a small fraction of this fuel is biodiesel. However, as petroleum becomes more expensive to locate and extract and concerns about fuel security and global warming increase, biodiesel is likely to emerge as one of several potential alternative diesel fuels. To understand the requirements of a diesel fuel and how biodiesel can be considered a desirable substitute, it is important to understand the basic operating principles of the diesel engine. This chapter describes these principles, particularly in light of the fuel used and the ways in which biodiesel provides advantages over conventional petroleum-based fuels.

Biodiesel: Small Scale Production and Quality Requirements

Biodiesel is produced by reacting vegetable oils or animal fats with alcohol in the presence of an alkaline catalyst. The resulting methyl esters, which are the biodiesel fuel, are separated from the by-product glycerin, and then washed with water and dehydrated to produce fuel that must meet standardized specifications. Degraded oils containing high levels of free fatty acids can also be converted to biodiesel, but pretreatment with acid-catalyzed esterification is required. The resulting fuel is suitable for use as a neat fuel in diesel engines or blended with conventional diesel fuel.Biodiesel is produced by reacting vegetable oils or animal fats with alcohol in the presence of an alkaline catalyst. The resulting methyl esters, which are the biodiesel fuel, are separated from the by-product glycerin, and then washed with water and dehydrated to produce fuel that must meet standardized specifications. Degraded oils containing high levels of free fatty acids can also be converted to biodiesel, but pretreatment with acid-catalyzed esterification is required. The resulting fuel is suitable for use as a neat fuel in diesel engines or blended with conventional diesel fuel.

Improving the fuel properties of soy biodiesel

Biodiesel sold in the US market typically consists of soy methyl esters, which has certain undesirable traits such as gelling around 0°C, increased oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions, and poorer shelf life relative to diesel fuel. The careful selection of triglyceride feedstock and the alcohol may ameliorate these undesirable characteristics. Genetic work has been done resulting in a soybean event designated 335-13 with a fatty acid profile high in oleic acid (>85%) and reduced palmitic acid (<4%). Methyl esters derived from this high oleic soy exhibited a cloud point of -5°C and a pour point of -9°C, which is an improvement over that of normal soy methyl esters due to the reduced level of saturation. Initial work also showed that methyl esters from high oleic (HO) soy oil had a measurable reduction (5%) in NOx emissions compared to normal soy methyl esters, but the reductions were mostly on the edge of statistical significance. The replacement of the methyl group with the isopropyl group did not improve the NOx emissions reduction seen with high oleic soy methyl esters. The replacement of the methyl group with the isopropyl group resulted in a fuel with a cloud point of -10°C and a pour point of -18°C. Ethyl esters from this HO soy oil had a cloud point of -7°C, and a pour point of -15°C. Oxidative stability tests showed that ethyl esters have a longer induction period over methyl esters. Isopropyl esters had a short induction period and this may be due to the process used for producing the isopropyl esters.