Biodiesel Background
History of the Diesel Engine 1-3
An obscured fact regarding the diesel engine
is that it was initially designed and run on vegetable oils. In
this sense, the concept of using biofuels to run internal combustion
engines is over 110 years old.
German inventor, Rudolf Diesel, was born in
Paris in 1858. In 1893, he published a paper entitled "The
Theory and Construction of a Rational Heat Engine," which
described an engine in which air is compressed by a piston to
a very high pressure, causing a high temperature. Fuel is then
injected and ignited by the compression temperature.
In 1894, he filed for a patent for his new
invention, dubbed the diesel engine. His engine was the first
that proved that fuel could be ignited without a spark. He operated
his first successful engine in 1897. In 1898, Rudolf Diesel was
granted patent #608,845 for an "internal combustion engine"
the Diesel engine. This engine was initally demostrated to the
public running on organic seed oils.
The diesel engines of today are refined and improved versions
of Rudolf Diesel's original concept. They are often used in automobiles,
submarines, ships, locomotives, large trucks and in electric generating
plants.
Biodiesel 4
Biodiesel is comprised of vegetable oil methyl
esters, that is, they are hydrocarbon chains of the original vegetable
oil that have been chemically split off from the naturally occurring
"triglycerides". Biodiesel hydrocarbon chains are generally
16 to 20 carbons in length, and they are all oxygenated at one
end, making the product an excellent fuel. The chemical properties
of the Biodiesel allow it to burn cleanly and actually improve
the combustion of petroleum diesel in blends.
The product has no noxious odors and is considered
as harmless to handle as salad oil, but safety precautions are
always encourage to avoid splashing it in your eyes, on your clothes,
on vehicles, soil or into the water. The product smells and feels
like cooking oil. In an early study sponsored by the National
Biodiesel Board (1993), the product had less toxicity in animal
testing than table salt (grams per kg body weight).
No Noxious or Carcinogenic Fumes
Biodiesel vegetable oil methyl esters contain
no volatile organic compounds that would give rise to any poisonous
or noxious fumes. The Biodiesel does not contain any aromatic
hydrocarbons (benzene, toluene, xylene) or chlorinated hydrocarbons.
There is no lead or sulfur to react and release harmful or corrosive
gases. However, in blends with petrodiesel there will continue
to be significant fumes released by the benzene and other aromatics
present in the petroleum fraction (80%) of the blend.
No Risk of Explosion from Vapors
Since the Biodiesel has no volatile components
(vapor pressure of less than 1 mm Hg) and a high flash point (typically
over 360 Deg. F), the product poses no risk of explosion caused
by accumulated fumes. The only significant fire risk would be
from the spontaneous combustion of rags and paper towels soaked
in Biodiesel and stored in an area with low ventilation, or high
temperatures.
Double Environmental Benefit with Biodiesel
from Recycled Cooking Oil
The newer Biodiesel products (introduced
in 1996-1997) produced from recycled cooking oil offer a "double
environmental benefit" in being both renewable and recycled
bioenergy products. Waste cooking oil collected from restaurants
(e.g., fryer oil for fast foods, french fries, Chinese food, donuts,
etc.) can be processed into Biodiesel methyl esters suitable for
use as a fuel additive.
In terms of performance, handling and toxicity, these products
are virtually identical to the Biodiesel methyl esters produced
from virgin soy bean oil in the U.S. The recycled products do
have a darker, amber color (oxidized carotene pigments), but the
trace pigment concentrations have never been associated with any
engine performance or toxicity effects.
In Europe, extensive testing of Biodiesel produced from recycled
cooking oils has confirmed that their engine performance and exhaust
emission properties are nearly identical to those of methyl esters
produced from virgin vegetable (rapeseed) oil. The Europeans have
built several new transesterification plants recently to meet
the increasing demand for Biodiesel by processing waste cooking
oil into methyl ester fuel.
Agricultural crops and oil
yields
Crop yields vary widely as can be seen from
the table (Crop Yields) with corn
and soybean being at the lower end of the scale and palm oil being
at the top end.
References
(4) Technical Handbook for Marine Biodiesel
In Recreational Boats: by Randall von Wedel, Ph.D CytoCulture International,
Inc.
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