BIODIESEL

A fuel for future

NAME: DIVYA SINGH

CLASS: XI A
ROLL NUMBER:14
WHAT IS
BIODIESEL?
 Biodiesel is a renewable biofuel, a form of diesel fuel.
 The colour of biodiesel ranges from clear to golden to dark brown,
depending on the production method and the feedstock used to
make the fuel.
 In general, biodiesel is slightly miscible with water, has a
high boiling point and low vapor pressure.

PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES
Biodiesel is produced from vegetable oils, yellow grease, used cooking oils, or animal fats.
The fuel is produced by various methods:

1.Transesterification
 A process that converts fats and oils into biodiesel and glycerine (a coproduct)
 Biodiesel production requires a feedstock (fat or oil) and an alcohol.
 In most cases, a catalyst also is present. Sodium hydroxide (NaOH), potassium
hydroxide (KOH) and sodium methoxide (CH3ONa) are the most common catalysts
for transesterification.
 Methanol is the most common alcohol used for conversion of fats and oils to
biodiesel. Methanol is flammable, so proper handling is required for safety.
 Glycerine, a coproduct, is a sugar commonly used in the manufacture of
pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.
 Transesterification is a reversible reaction. Thus, excess methanol is required to shift
the equilibrium favourably.

The Chemistry of Making Biodiesel:

Step I: Mix the alcohol for reaction with the catalyst, typically a strong base such as NaOH
or KOH. The alcohol/catalyst is then reacted with the fatty acid so that the transesterification
reaction takes place.
Step II: The catalyst is prepared by mixing methanol and a strong base such as sodium
hydroxide or potassium hydroxide. During the preparation, the NaOH breaks into ions of
Na+ and OH-. The OH- abstracts the hydrogen from methanol to form water and leaves the
CH3O- available for reaction.

(NOTE: METHANOL SHOULD BE AS DRY AS POSSIBLE.)

Step III: When the OH- ion reacts with H+ ion, it reacts to form water. Water will increase
the possibility of a side reaction with free fatty acids (fatty acids that are not triglycerides) to
form soap, an unwanted reaction.

Research is being conducted on developing algae as a potential biodiesel feedstock. It is

expected to produce high yields from a smaller area of land than vegetable oils.

2. Acid Catalysis:
 This technique uses a strong acid.
 Soap formation is not a problem because there are no alkali metals in the reaction
medium.
 Acid catalysts can be used for transesterification of the triglycerides, but the reaction
might take several days to complete. This is too slow for industrial processing.
 Acid catalysis requires a high alcohol to free fatty acid ratio (20:1 or 40:1 mole ratio)
and large amount of catalyst (5-25 percent).
 Sulfuric acid and phosphoric acid are the most common acid catalysts.
 The feedstock is sometimes dried to 0.4 percent water and filtered before the reaction.
 Then, an acid and methanol mixture are added to the feedstock. Once the conversion
of the fatty acids to methyl esters has reached equilibrium, the methanol, water, and
acid mixture is removed by settling or centrifugation.
 Fresh methanol and base catalyst are added into the remaining oil for
transesterification.

3. Enzymatic Conversion:
 The enzymes can be used in solution or immobilized onto a support material, which
allows the use of fixed-bed reactors.
 The reaction can be performed at 35 to 45 degrees Celsius.
 However, the reaction is very slow, requiring from four to 40 hours.
 Because of the high cost of the enzymes, this process is not economically feasible for
biodiesel production currently.

4.Solid Catalyst
 The processes discussed above, which also are referred to as homogeneous catalysis,
involve utilization of a catalyst that is soluble in alcohol.
 In these systems the catalyst ends up in the byproducts, and it is not recovered for re-
use.
 There are also solid catalysts that can be used for biodiesel production.
 This process, which is referred to as heterogeneous catalysis, utilizes fixed-bed
reactors, and the catalyst stays in the reactor and is used for an extended time.
 Alkaline earth metal oxides, various alkaline metal compounds supported on alumina
or zeolite can catalyse transesterification reactions.
 The product, fatty acid esters, does not require water washing, and yields are
generally high.
 It also has been reported that catalyst requirements per ton of biodiesel for
heterogeneous catalysis are much lower than for other processes.
 However, these systems operate under high temperature and pressure.

5.Non-Catalytic Conversion Techniques

 Non-catalytic approach utilizes methanol at very high temperature and pressure
(350 to 400 degrees Celsius and greater than 80 atm or 1200 psi) to convert oil to
biodiesel.
 This process requires a high alcohol to oil ratio (42:1 mole ratio).
 The reaction is complete in about three to five minutes.
 The process requires high pressure vessels which can be quite expensive.
 The energy consumption also is higher than the conventional processes.
 The reaction must be quenched very rapidly so the products do not decompose.

6.Downstream Processing
 Biodiesel will be in a mixture of excess methanol, catalyst, and glycerine after the
completion of the oil conversion reaction.
 As a rule of thumb difference, in specific gravity of 0.1 in a mixture of compounds
will result in phase separation by gravity.
 Impurities in the feedstock may cause emulsion formation, which interferes with
phase separation.
 Saturated salt (sodium chloride) or centrifugation breaks the emulsion and speeds up
the phase separation.
 A good conversion reaction will require excess methanol, but the amount of methanol
in the system must be minimized for good phase separation.
 Glycerine and methanol can be further purified by distillation.
 Resins or adsorbents have been used to purify biodiesel to eliminate water wash.
 The residual methanol in biodiesel still needs to be evaporated.

BIODIESEL LOW-
TEMPERATURE
OPERABILITY CONCERNS
 Low temperature operability is a major concern for all diesel-like fuels
operating in low temperature environments.
 Biodiesel low-temperature operational problems are commonly referred to as
“precipitates above the cloud point (CP)”.

There are several major sources of potential low temperature operability problems
with biodiesel:

 Formation of waxes in the fuel—

Long chain methyl esters, especially saturated ones, can solidify as the fuel
temperatures drops. These can plug filters and cause engines to not start or stall
shortly after start-up.

 Formation of precipitates from fuel contaminants—

Some fuel contaminants such as saturated monoglycerides, sterol glucosides and

soaps can lead to the formation of filter plugging precipitates at temperatures above
the fuel’s cloud point.

 Fuel system icing—

At sub-zero temperatures, water from fuel contamination can freeze, causing the
precipitation of ice particles.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Websites:
1.afdc.energy.gov
2. www.e-education.psu.edu
3. en.wikipedia.org

THANK
YOU!
.