Progress and recent trends in biodiesel fuels

Importance of biodiesel as transportation fuel

Advancements in development and characterization of biodiesel: A review

An ever increasing demand of fuels has been a challenge for today’s scientific workers. The fossil fuel resources are dwindling day by day. Biodiesel seems to be a solution for future. Biodiesel is an environmentally viable fuel. Out of the four ways viz. direct use and blending, micro-emulsions, thermal cracking and transesterification, most commonly used method is transesterification of vegetable oils, fats, waste oils, etc. Latest aspects of development of biodiesel have been discussed in this work. Yield of biodiesel is affected by molar ratio, moisture and water content, reaction temperature, stirring, specific gravity, etc. Biodegradability, kinetics involved in the process of biodiesel production, and its stability have been critically reviewed. Emissions and performance of biodiesel has also been reported. 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Review article Advancements in development and characterization of biodiesel: A review

Biodiesel and renewable diesel: A comparison

The biodegradability of various biodiesel fuels was examined by the CO2 evolution method (EPA 560/6-82-003),
BOD5 (EPA 405.1), COD (EPA 410), and gas chromatography (GC) analyses in an aquatic system. The fuels examined
included the methyl- and ethyl-esters of rapeseed oil and soybean oil, neat rapeseed oil, neat soybean oil and Phillips 2-D
low sulfur, reference petroleum diesel. Blends of biodiesel/petroleum diesel at different volumetric ratios, including 80/20,
50/50, and 20/80, were also examined. The results demonstrate that all the biodiesel fuels are “readily biodegradable”.
Moreover, in the presence of REE, the degradation rate of petroleum diesel increased to twice that of petroleum diesel alone.
The pattern of biodegradation in the blends and reasons why biodiesel is more readily degradable than petroleum diesel are
discussed. The biodegradation monitoring results from both CO2 evolution and GC methods are compared.

D. Reece

Papers

Biodegradability of biodiesel in the aquatic environment