BIODIESEL

TOMORROWS FUEL

INTRODUCTION
Dr. Rudolf diesel actually invented the diesel engine to run on a myriad of fuels including coal
dust suspended in water, heavy mineral oil and you guessed it, vegetable oil. Dr. Diesels first
engine experiments were catastrophic failures. But by the time he showed his engine at the
World Exhibition in Paris in 1900, his engine was running on 100% peanut oil. Dr. Diesel was
visionary. In 1911 he stated The diesel engine can be fed with vegetable oils and would help
considerably in the development of agriculture of the countries which use it. In 1912, Diesel
said, The use of vegetable oils for engine fuels may seem insignificant today. But such oils may
become in course of time as important as petroleum and the coal tar products of the present
time. Since Dr. Diesels untimely death in 1913, his engine has been modified to run on the
polluting petroleum fuel we now know as diesel. Nevertheless, his ideas on agriculture and his
invention provide the foundation for a society with clean, renewable, locally grown fuel.

BIODIESEL PRODUCTION

Transesterification
The most common derivatives of agricultural oil for fuels are methyl esters. These are formed by
transesterification of the oil with methanol in the presence of a catalyst (usually basic) to give
methyl ester and glycerol. Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) is the most common catalyst, though
others such as potassium hydroxide (KOH) can also be used.
100 kg oil+24 kg methanol+2.5 kg NaOH a 100 kg biodiesel+26 kg glycerine

Transesterification chemistry

R' R'' R''' = oil acids; R = (CH2)xCH3

The methanol and NaOH are premixed and added to the oil, mixed for a few hours, and
allowed to gravity settle for about 8 hours. The glycerine settles to the bottom, leaving
biodiesel on the top. The physical and chemical properties of the resulting biodiesel
(Jatropha methyl esters) are presented in the following Table alongside those for
petroleum diesel and European Union standards for biodiesel.

Jatropha Biodiesel properties compared with petro-diesel and EU standards

Property

Units

Jatropha
biodiesel

Petroleum diesel

E.U. standards for

biodiesel

Density @ 30C

g/ml

0.88

0.85

> 0.8

192

55

> 55

cSt

4.84

2-8

MJ/kg

41

45

Undefined

Combustion
point
Kinetic viscosity
Calorific

potential
Cetane number

52

47.5

> 48

Ester content

> 99

> 99

Sulfur content

< 0.5

< 0.55

Carbon residue

0.024

< 0.35

< 0.1

The process of manufacture of Biodiesel and the properties of Biodiesel

are more or less similar for Jatropha and Pongamia.

Jatropha Curcas
The Jatropha Curcas plant has the potential, for use as an oil crop for Biodiesel. The Jatropha
plant is Latin American in origin and is closely related to the castor plant. It is a large shrub /
small tree able to thrive in a number of climactic zones in arid and semi-arid tropical regions of
the world. It can grow in areas of low rainfall (250 mm per year minimum, 900-1,200 mm
optimal) and is drought resistant. And is not browsed by animals.

Planting density - 1,000 plants per Acre

Productivity - Starts yielding after on year, but the maximum productivity from
5th year onwards

Life Span - 50 years

Yield per hectare / year 0.4 to 12 tonnes

Pongamia Pinnata
The Pongamia Pinnata is a native of the Western Ghats and is chiefly found along the banks of
streams and rivers or near the sea on beaches and tidal forests. It also grows in dry places far in
the interior. It is a hardy tree that mines water for its needs from 10 meter depths without
competing with other crops. It grows all over the country, from the coastline to the hill slopes. It
needs very little care and cattle do not browse it. It has rich leathery evergreen foliage that can be
used as green manure.
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Planting density - 200 to 250 per Acre

Productivity - Starts yielding pods from 3 rd year onwards , but the mature
average of 150 kg prods per tree per year from 10 th year onwards

Life Span - 100 years

Yield per hectare / year 6 to 9 tonnes.

Each tree can yield 40 Liters of oil, 120 Kg of fertilizer grade oil cake and 250 Kg of biomass as
green manure per year. When in bloom, the Pongamia trees can be used for bee harvesting and
honey production. The long term adverse impacts of mono cropping of Pongamia and even
Jatropha need to be evaluated and confirmed.

Byproducts
Glycerine
Glycerine (glycerin, glycerol) is the by-product of making biodiesel. What sinks to the bottom of
the biodiesel processor during the settling stage is a mixture of glycerine, methanol, soaps and
the catalyst. Once separated from the biodiesel, adding phosphoric acid to the glycerine layer
precipitates the catalyst out and also converts the soaps back to free fatty acids (FFAs), which
float on top. The resultant products are light-colored precipitate on the bottom,
glycerine/methanol/water in the middle, and FFA on top. The glycerine will be approx. 95%
pure, a product to sell to refiners.
De-oiled Cake
The residual crushed seed, known as de-oiled cake, is a good source of manure, which can be
used locally, or for export. The seed husks can be used to make packaging materials.

PERFORMANCE OF BIODIESEL:
Successful alternative fuels fulfill environmental and energy security needs without sacrificing
operating performance. Operationally, biodiesel performs very similar to low sulfur diesel in
terms of power, torque, and fuel with out major modifications of engines or infrastructure.
Biodiesel offers similar power to diesel fuel. One of major advantages of biodiesel is the fact
That it can be used in existing engines and fuel injection equipment with little impact to
operating performance. Biodiesel has a higher cetane number than diesel fuel. In over 15 million
Miles of in-field demonstrations biodiesel showed similar fuel consumption, horsepower, torque,

And haulage rates as conventional diesel fuel. Biodiesel provides significant lubricity
improvement over petroleum diesel fuel. Lubricity results of biodiesel and petroleum diesel
using industry test methods indicate that there is a marked improvement in lubricity when added
to conventional diesel fuel.

BIODIESEL ACTIVITIES IN INDIA:

The Tamilnadu government along with the forest department has planned a project for cultivation
of Jatropha in 150,000 hectares in Tamilnadu. Any farmer with land can make their lands
available for the jatropha project and the seedlings as well as technical assistance for grow-out
will be provided by the forest department.
The Indian Railway is to raise jatropha along the railway track and plan to plant jatropha along
25,000 route kilometers on two sides of the track. They plan to replace 10% of their total petrodiesel consumption by jatropha. The project has been started on a pilot scale.
A Tamilnadu firm is working on a project to grow 600,000 hectares of jatropha on lands owned
by farmers in various parts of Tamilnadu. They will provide farmers with the seedlings and Rs.
3,000 per hectare for land preparation and planting. They will contract with farmers to buy out
their entire production of jatropha seeds.
The Maharashtra Agro-forestry department has been actively encouraging the raising of jatropha
in watershed development projects.
A similar project as in Maharashtra is being attempted in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
The planning board of Haryana Government They are planning to grow jatropha on 50,000 acres
( 5,000 acres every year ) to attract farmers to crop cycle Diversification.
The Rural Community Action Centre (RCAC) in Tamilnadu state is promoting the plantation and
use of jatropha.
The Gujarat Agricultural University is planning the plantation of jatropha on wasteland for
income generation.

COMPARISONS AND DISCUSSIONS:

Biodiesel contains no sulfur or aromatics, and use of biodiesel in a conventional diesel engine
results in substantial reduction so unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and particulate
matter. Biodiesel can be manufactured using existing industrial production capacity and used
with conventional equipment, is provides substantial opportunity for immediately addressing our
energy security issues.

Increased utilization of renewable biofuels results in significant

microeconomic benefits to both the urban and rural sectors.

BIODIESEL EMISSION COMPARED TO CONVENTIONAL DIESEL

Emission Type
Regulated

B100

B20

Total Unburned Hydrocarbons

Carbon Monoxide
Particulate Matter
Nox

-93%
-50%
-30%
+13%

-30%
-20%
-22%
+2%

Non-Regulated
Sulfates
PAH(Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons)**
NPAH(nitrated PAHs)**
Ozone potential of speciated HC

-100%
-80%
-90%%
-50

-20%*
-13%
-50%***
-10%

*Estimated from B 100 result

**Average reduction across all compounds measured
*** 2-nitroflourine tests results were within the test method variability.

To diminish the present dependency on imported fuels:

We are spending Rs 82000 crores per annum for imported crude petroleum. We are losing max
amount of foreign exchange on crude oils. If we can save percentage of this amount, it will be
useful for the construction of a heavily irrigation project sources.
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To develop the renewable energy sources:

The energy consumption in the world particularly in the industrialized countries has been
growing at alarming rate. Fossil fuels which today meet major part of the energy demand are
being depleted quickly world has started running out of oil and it estimated that 80% of the
worlds supplies will be consumed in our life times. Coal supply may appear to be large but even
this stock may not last longer than a few decades. Thus we are forced to look for renewable
energy.
To boost up the rural economics:
India has rain shadow area about 8crore hectares Jatropha; the prime element for the extraction
of biodiesel can be grown. It was known just a crude plant which grows on eroded soil and
requires a hot climate and hardly any water to survive. The Jatropha cactus plants grow on poor
degraded soils and are able to ensure a reasonable production of seeds with very little input. The
production rate is 5-15 tones per year per hectare. The farmer gets profit of nearly
Rs 40,000 per hectare per year. It also increases the employment in rural areas.
To develop eco friendly fuels:
Biodiesel contains no sulfur or aromatics, and use of biodiesel in a conventional diesel engine
results in substantial reduction of unburned hydrocarbon, carbon monoxide and particulate
matter.
A US department of energy study showed that the production and use of biodiesel, compared
petroleum diesel, resulted in a 78.5% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. Moreover biodiesel
has a positive energy balance.

ADVANTAGES OF BIODIESEL
The higher cetane number of biodiesel compared to petro-diesel indicates

potential for higher engine performance. Tests have shown that biodiesel has similar or better
fuel consumption, horsepower, and torque and haulage rates as conventional diesel
The superior lubricating properties of biodiesel increases functional engine

efficiency

Their higher flash point makes them safer to store

The biodiesel molecules are simple hydrocarbon chains, containing no

sulfur, or aromatic substances associated with fossil fuels
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They contain higher amount oxygen (up to 10%) that ensures more
complete combustion of hydrocarbons

Biodiesel almost completely eliminates lifecycle carbon dioxide emissions. When

compared to petro-diesel it reduces emission of particulate matter by 40%, unburned
hydrocarbons by 68%, carbon monoxide by 44%, sulphates by 100%, polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons (PAHs) by 80%, and the carcinogenic nitrated PAHs by 90% on an average.
The use of biodiesel complements the working of the catalysator and can help a current
EURO-1 motor attain the EURO-111 standards.

Fixation of up to 10 t/ha/yr CO2 that could be internationally traded

Production of 1 t/ ha/yr of high protein seed cake (60% crude protein) that
can be potentially used as animal and fish feeds and organic matter that could be used
as organic fertilizer particularly in remote areas

Various other products from the plant (leaf, bark and seed extracts) have
various other industrial and pharmaceutical uses

Localised production and availability of quality fuel

Restoration of degraded land over a period of time

Rural employment generation

Disadvantages of Biodiesel

High cost of production: will eventually solve itself when large-scale production and
use starts. Also, the price of petro-diesel does not take into account its actual cost (when
environmental and military costs are included).
Modifications are required to the automobiles for use of biofuel: many automobile

brands are currently marketed ready for use of bio diesel.

High CFPP (cold filter plugging point) values and hence solidification and clogging
of the system at low temperatures: this problem occurs only in places where the
temperature goes down to around 0C, even here the problem is currently solved by
adding additives.

REFERENCES
1. Cole, G. Mattney, 2003.Assessment and remediation of petroleum contaminated sites
publishers 1982 test guidelines chemical fate-aerobic aquatic bio degradation.
2. Peterson, Charles L., Feldman M, korus R, and Auld DL, 1991.Batchtype transesterification
process for winter rape oil asae paper, MI 49085-9659.
3. Pitter, pavel and chudoba Jan 1990 biodegradability of organic substances in the aquatic
environment
4. U.S.Department of energy 2003 biorefinery ppt .Shaine Tyson nrel golden Colorado, USA
5. Performance evaluation and emission characteristics of a compression ignition engine using
esterified biodiesels at CES, IIT Delhi 1996 (Advisor Prof lMlm Das)
6. LM Das Biodiesel development and characterization for use as a fuel in compression ignition
engine journal of engineering for gas turbine and power (ASME Transaction journal), vol 123
pp440-447, April 2001.
7. Feasibility of Biodiesel for Rural Electrification in India, Jeffrey L. Rosenblum, Carnegie
Mellon University
8. The Biomass Project, 2000. Curcas Oil Methyl Ester. Nicaragua.BRINGI, N.V., "NonTraditional Oilseeds and Oils in India", Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. PVT. Ltd.. New Delhi,
India pp 143-166. 2.