Progress and recent trends in biodiesel fuels

Biodiesel is a renewable transportation fuel consisting of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME), generally produced by transesterification of vegetable oils and animal fats. In this review, the fatty acid (FA) profiles of 12 common biodiesel feedstocks were summarized. Considerable compositional variability exists across the range of feedstocks. For example, coconut, palm and tallow contain high amounts of saturated FA; while corn, rapeseed, safflower, soy, and sunflower are dominated by unsaturated FA. Much less information is available regarding the FA profiles of algal lipids that could serve as biodiesel feedstocks. However, some algal species contain considerably higher levels of poly-unsaturated FA than is typically found in vegetable oils. Differences in chemical and physical properties among biodiesel fuels can be explained largely by the fuels’ FA profiles. Two features that are especially influential are the size distribution and the degree of unsaturation within the FA structures. For the 12 biodiesel types reviewed here, it was shown that several fuel properties – including viscosity, specific gravity, cetane number, iodine value, and low temperature performance metrics – are highly correlated with the average unsaturation of the FAME profiles. Due to opposing effects of certain FAME structural features, it is not possible to define a single composition that is optimum with respect to all important fuel properties. However, to ensure satisfactory in-use performance with respect to low temperature operability and oxidative stability, biodiesel should contain relatively low concentrations of both long-chain saturated FAME and poly-unsaturated FAME.

Review of biodiesel composition, properties, and specifications

The world is confronted with the twin crises of fossil fuel depletion and environmental degradation. The indiscriminate extraction and consumption of fossil fuels have led to a reduction in petroleum reserves. Petroleum based fuels are obtained from limited reserves. These finite reserves are highly concentrated in certain region of the world. Therefore, those countries not having these resources are facing a foreign exchange crisis, mainly due to the import of crude petroleum oil. Hence it is necessary to look for alternative fuels, which can be produced from materials available within the country. Although vegetative oils can be fuel for diesel engines, but their high viscosities, low volatilities and poor cold flow properties have led to the investigation of its various derivatives. Among the different possible sources, fatty acid methyl esters, known as Biodiesel fuel derived from triglycerides (vegetable oil and animal fates) by transesterification with methanol, present the promising alternative substitute to diesel fuels and have received the most attention now a day. The main advantages of using Biodiesel are its renewability, better quality exhaust gas emission, its biodegradability and the organic carbon present in it is photosynthetic in origin. It does not contribute to a rise in the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and consequently to the green house effect. This paper reviews the source of production and characterization of vegetable oils and their methyl ester as the substitute of the petroleum fuel and future possibilities of Biodiesel production.

Biodiesel production through the use of different sources and characterization of oils and their esters as the substitute of diesel: A review

The interest in using Jatropha curcas L. (JCL) as a feedstock for the production of bio-diesel is rapidly growing. The properties of the crop and its oil have persuaded investors, policy makers and clean development mechanism (CDM) project developers to consider JCL as a substitute for fossil fuels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, JCL is still a wild plant of which basic agronomic properties are not thoroughly understood and the environmental effects have not been investigated yet. Gray literature reports are very optimistic on simultaneous wasteland reclamation capability and oil yields, further fueling the Jatropha bio-diesel hype. In this paper, we give an overview of the currently available information on the different process steps of the production process of bio-diesel from JCL, being cultivation and production of seeds, extraction of the oil, conversion to and the use of the bio-diesel and the by-products. Based on this collection of data and information the best available practice, the shortcomings and the potential environmental risks and benefits are discussed for each production step. The review concludes with a call for general precaution and for science to be applied. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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Jatropha bio-diesel production and use

World energy demand is expected to increase due to the expanding urbanization, better living standards and increasing population. At a time when society is becoming increasingly aware of the declining reserves of fossil fuels beside the environmental concerns, it has become apparent that biodiesel is destined to make a substantial contribution to the future energy demands of the domestic and industrial economies. There are different potential feedstocks for biodiesel production. Non-edible vegetable oils which are known as the second generation feedstocks can be considered as promising substitutions for traditional edible food crops for the production of biodiesel. The use of non-edible plant oils is very significant because of the tremendous demand for edible oils as food source. Moreover, edible oils’ feedstock costs are far expensive to be used as fuel. Therefore, production of biodiesel from non-edible oils is an effective way to overcome all the associated problems with edible oils. However, the potential of converting non-edible oil into biodiesel must be well examined. This is because physical and chemical properties of biodiesel produced from any feedstock must comply with the limits of ASTM and DIN EN specifications for biodiesel fuels. This paper introduces non-edible vegetable oils to be used as biodiesel feedstocks. Several aspects related to these feedstocks have been reviewed from various recent publications. These aspects include overview of non-edible oil resources, advantages of non-edible oils, problems in exploitation of non-edible oils, fatty acid composition profiles (FAC) of various non-edible oils, oil extraction techniques, technologies of biodiesel production from non-edible oils, biodiesel standards and characterization, properties and characteristic of non-edible biodiesel and engine performance and emission production. As a conclusion, it has been found that there is a huge chance to produce biodiesel from non-edible oil sources and therefore it can boost the future production of biodiesel.

Non-edible vegetable oils: A critical evaluation of oil extraction, fatty acid compositions, biodiesel production, characteristics, engine performance and emissions production

Fatty acid profiles of seed oils of 75 plant species having 30% or more fixed oil in their seed/kernel were examined. Saponification number (SN), iodine value (IV) and cetane number (CN) of fatty acid methyl esters of oils were empirically determined and they varied from 169.2 to 312.5, 4.8 to 212 and 20.56 to 67.47, respectively. Fatty acid compositions, IV and CN were used to predict the quality of fatty acid methyl esters of oil for use as biodiesel. Fatty acid methyl ester of oils of 26 species including Azadirachta indica, Calophyllum inophyllum, Jatropha curcas and Pongamia pinnata were found most suitable for use as biodiesel and they meet the major specification of biodiesel standards of USA, Germany and European Standard Organization. The fatty acid methyl esters of another 11 species meet the specification of biodiesel standard of USA only. These selected plants have great potential for biodiesel.

Prospects and potential of fatty acid methyl esters of some non-traditional seed oils for use as biodiesel in India

In order to utilize the wildly grown plant seed oils as biodiesel, their fatty acid composition were used for empirical determination of saponification number, iodine value, and Cetane number. Among the oils from 23 plant species, saponification numbers, iodine values, and Cetane numbers varied from 181.98 to 294.30, 4.81 to 194.61, and 29.70 to 67.50, respectively. Biodiesel properties predicted from iodine values, Cetane numbers, and fatty acid composition of the respective oils, showed that five species, namely, Buchnania lanzan, Cleome viscosa, Manilkara hexendara, Merremia aegyptia, and Nyctanthes arbortristris, are most suitable for biodiesel, the FAMEs of which meet the biodiesel specifications of the USA, Germany, and European Standard Organization. Another five species, namely, Carthamus oxyacantha, Chrozophora plicata, Citrullus colocynthis, Cucurbita maxima, and Ipomoea pestigridis, meet the specification of the US Biodiesel Standard only. FAMEs of unsuitable oils may also be used as b...

N. M. Nahar

Papers

Prospects and potential of fatty acid methyl esters of some non-traditional seed oils for use as biodiesel in India

Suitability of Some Wildly Grown Seed Oils for Use as Biodiesel