CHAPTER - 1

INTRODUCTION

Fuels are inevitable for industrial development and growth of any country. The life span of fossil
fuel resources has always been terrifying. Biodiesel, a renewable source of energy seems to be
an ideal solution for global energy demands including India as well. Amongst different biofuels
pathways available, biodiesel from agriculture derived and low cost feedstock appears to be the
feasible ready to market. The objective of the present work is to make a detailed analysis of a
biodiesel production plant design characteristics, considering that the raw materials will also be
locally produced. Furthermore, the feasibility of such a plant is evaluated and useful conclusions
are drawn in respect to the unit production cost and various other technical and economical
parameters.
Interest in renewable fuels has increased substantially in recent years. Much of this interest is
attributable due to the upward trend of traditional fuels cost, environmental concern associated
with fossil fuels, and increasing dependence on foreign energy. This has lead to increase in
demand of the alternative fuel Biodiesel. Biodiesel is an alternative fuel for diesel engines that is
gaining attention all over the world. It's primary advantage deal with it being one of the most
renewable fuels currently available and it is also non-toxic and biodegradable. It can also be used
directly in most diesel engines without requiring extensive engine modifications. Biodiesel is
defined as the mono-alkyl esters of fatty acids derived from vegetable oils or animal fats. In
simple terms, "biodiesel is the product is available when a vegetable oil or animal fat is
chemically reacted with an alcohol to produce a new compound that is known as a fatty acid
alkyl ester. A catalyst such as sodium or potassium hydroxide is required. Byproduct produced is
Glycerol."
Rising oil demand of close to 10% per year has lead to heavy oil import. As the demand for
energy continue to increase there is challenge to meet it grow. Due to rising consumption and
higher world oil prices, Indian government is faced with debilitating oil import cost. Indias oil
demand is more than twice the domestic output. Almost half of Indias trade deficit is due to
petroleum import, the cost of which also limit capital that could be invested uneconomically.
1

The high dependency on imported outside energy source is an issue related to energy security for
the country. So a country like India, with such a high rate of fuel consumption cannot rely on
other countries for fuel requirement.
Also India is worlds second fastest growing greenhouse gas producer after China. The increased
greenhouse gas emission is beginning to effect global climate pattern. Major pollutant such as
sulphur dioxide, nitrous oxide and particular matter, emitted from petroleum fuelled vehicle,
amount of more than 60% of air pollution and are a serious health hazards.
Other type of pollutant such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and various other gases are
creating lot of harm. So it is great need of country to search for other clean sources of energy.
Although CNG and LPG are promoted as cleaner alternative but both of them are in short supply
and we will have to depend on import to meet increased requirement of fuel.
We therefore need to look for cleaner alternative, which could not only reduce pollution but also
reduce our dependence on import. For a developing country like India, the Bio origin fuel can
contribute significantly toward the problem related to fuel crisis. The production of bio-fuel such
as vegetable oil can be done quite economically in agricultural country like ours. Vegetable oil
can be used in IC engine by various fuel modification techniques such as trans-esterification,
esterification, vegetable oil blends and vegetable oil heating i.e. pyrolysis.

1.1 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Rudolf Diesel designed a prototype of engine. The engine was showed in the Paris World Expo
In 1900.The engine was planned to use vegetable oils. The first tests were done with peanuts oil.
In 1908, Henry Ford made the first design of his automobile Model T. This automobile used
Ethanol as fuel. From 1920 to 1924, the Standard Oil Company sold gasoline with a 25%
Ethanol, in the Baltimore region. The project was then abandoned because of the high prices of
the corn (source of the ethanol) and the problems with storage and transport.[Reynold Millard
Wik,1963]
In the late twenties and during the thirties, Henry Ford and other experts joined their efforts
Trying to promote the use of ethanol. They built a fermentation plant in Atchinson(Kansas) to
Produce ethanol fuel. This plant produced 38000 liters ethanol per day for use as fuel.[Ove
Eikeland,2006]
During the 1930s, more than 2000 fuel stations, in the USA Midwest, sold this ethanol made
From corn. This was called gasohol. Gasohol could not compete with the gasoline and the plant
In Atchinson was closed in the 1940s. [Joyce Manchester, 1978].
In 1973, there was a sharp oil crisis associated to the second arabisraeli war. During this Period,
the fuel price was doubled in just three months. The scarcity of this nonrenewable Resource
jeopardized the supply. This fact encouraged the search a substitute for the oil. [Joseph Coton
Wright, 2010]
In Brazil, the Proalcool project began in 1975. The objective of Proalcool Project was to
encourage use of ethanol as transport fuel and for industrial uses. [Carlos R. Soccol,2005]
The fast depletion of fossil fuels and the green house gas emissions from fossil fuels are the
Main reason for the efforts in order to develop biofuels. In 2003 the EU promote the use of
biofuels for transport.

CHAPTER - 2

LITERATURE RIVEW
Prasad Ramesh Patil(3) - Interest in renewable fuels has increased substantially in recent years.
Much of this interest is attributable due to the upward trend of traditional fuels cost,
environmental foreign energy. This has lead to increase in demand of the alternative fuel diesel
engines that is gaining attention all over the world. Its primary advantages deal with it being one
of the most renewable fuels currently available and it is also non-toxic and biodegradable. It can
also be used directly in most diesel engines without requiring extensive engine modifications.
R K Singh and Saroj K Pandi(6) - Due to gradual depletion of world petroleum reserves and
the impact of environmental pollution there is an urgent need for suitable alternative fuels for use
in diesel engine. In view of this, vegetable oil is a promising alternative because it is a
renewable, environment friendly and produced easily in rural areas, where there is an acute need
for modern form of energy. In recent year systematic efforts have been made by several research
workers to use vegetable oils as fuel in engine. Seeing the cost and edible oils consumption, the
use of non-edible oils compare to edible oils is very significant.
It is evident that there are various problem associated with straight vegetable oil being used as
fuel in compression ignition engine, mainly caused by there high viscosity. Although start term
test using vegetable oil showed promising result, longer test led to injector choking, more engine
deposit, ring sticking and thickning of engine lubricant these experience led to use of modified
vegetable oil as a fuel. Although there are many ways and process to convert vegetable oil into
diesel like fuel, the trans-esterification process was found to be the most viable oil modification
process. It is the process of using an alcohol, in the presence of catalyst such as naoh and KOH
to break the molecule of raw renewable oil chemically into methyl or ethyl ester with glycerol as
a byproduct.
Michael Allen and GumponPrateepchaikul(7) - Transesterification of a vegetable oil was
conducted as early as 1853 by Patrick Duffy, many years before the first diesel engine became
functional. Rudolf Diesel's prime model, a single 10 ft (3 m) iron cylinder with a flywheel at its
base, ran on its own power for the first time in Augsburg, Germany, on 10 August 1893 running

on nothing but peanut oil. In remembrance of this event, 10 August has been declared
"International Biodiesel Day".
It is often reported that Diesel designed his engine to run on peanut oil, but this is not the case.
Diesel stated in his published papers, "at the Paris Exhibition in 1900 (Exposition Universelle)
there was shown by the Otto Company a small Diesel engine, which, at the request of the French
government ran on arachide (earth-nut or pea-nut) oil (see biodiesel), and worked so smoothly
that only a few people were aware of it. Despite the widespread use of petroleum-derived diesel
fuels, interest in vegetable oils as fuels for internal combustion engines was reported in several
countries during the 1920s and 1930s and later during World War II.
Some operational problems were reported due to the high viscosity of vegetable oils compared to
petroleum diesel fuel, which results in poor atomization of the fuel in the fuel spray and often
leads to deposits and coking of the injectors, combustion chamber and valves. Attempts to
overcome these problems included heating of the vegetable oil, blending it with petroleumderived diesel fuel or ethanol, pyrolysis and cracking of the oils.
The design of a continuous reactor for the production of palm-oil methyl ester required the
modelling of the complex series of reversible reactions which are known to take place. Rate
equations were derived which could be solved by a number of mathematical techniques: In this
case, a finite-difference technique was used based on simple spreadsheet functions. The resulting
model was compared with results published in the literature as well as with results obtained in
the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the Prince of Songkla University. Applying this
model made possible several recommendations to enhance palm-oil methyl ester production in
batch reactors of the form currently operated by Energy Group of the Prince of Songkla
University.

CHAPTER - 3

BIODIESEL FEEDSTOCK
A variety of oils can be used to produce biodiesel. These include:
1) Virgin oil feedstock rapeseed and soybean oils are most commonly used, soybean oil
accounting for about half of U.S. production. It also can be obtained from pongamia,
field pennycress and jatropha and other crops such as mustard, jojoba, flax, sunflower,
palm oil, coconut oil, rapeseed oil, karanja oil, etc
2) Waste vegetable oil (WVO).
3) Animal fats including tallow, lard, yellow grease, chicken fat. And the by-products of the
production of Omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil.
4) Algae, which can be grown using waste materials such as sewage and without displacing
land currently used for food production.
5) Oil from halophytes such as Salicorniabigelovii, which can be grown using saltwater in
coastal areas where conventional crops cannot be grown, with yields equal to the yields
of soybeans and other oilseeds grown using freshwater irrigation.
6) Sewage Sludge - The sewage-to-biofuel field is attracting interest from major companies
like Waste Management and startups like infospi, which are betting that renewable
sewage biodiesel can become competitive with petroleum diesel on price.
7) Many advocates suggest that waste vegetable oil is the best source of oil to produce
biodiesel, but since the available supply is drastically less than the amount of petroleumbased fuel that is burned for transportation and home heating in the world, this local
solution could not scale to the current rate of consumption.
8) Animal fats are a by-product of meat production and cooking. Although it would not be
efficient to raise animals (or catch fish) simply for their fat, use of the by-product adds
value to the livestock industry (hogs, cattle, poultry). Today, multi-feedstock biodiesel
facilities are producing high quality animal-fat based biodiesel. Currently, a 5-million
dollar plant is being built in the USA, with the intent of producing 11.4 million litres
(3 million gallons) biodiesel from some of the estimated 1 billion kg (2.2 billion pounds)
of chicken fat produced annually at the local Tyson poultry plant.

3.1 VEGETABEL OIL AS ALTERNATE DIESEL FUEL

6

Vegetable oils provide diesel engine performance similar to that obtained with diesel fuel and
this has been documented in many prior publication. Because they are potentially
interchangeable with diesel fuel, interest has focused on vegetable oil as short range alternate
fuel. However engine durability when burning vegetable oils may be adversely affected
depending on the type of combustion system employed. Laboratory and field experimental test
have identified the pre-chamber engine as having the greatest short range potential for using
vegetable oil fuels. Performance and durability at low engine ratings are essentially the same as
expected for operation on diesel fuel. However at high engine rating, piston rings and cylinder
liner wear are greater than expected for operation on diesel fuels.
In a country like India massive source of vegetable oils show their capability as an alternative
fuelthe various available vegetable oil and their plausible feature

are briefly discussed as

follows:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)

Sunflower oil
Soybean oil
Rapeseed oil
Peanut oil
Cotton seed oil
Palm oil
7) Karanja oil

3.1.1 SUNFLOWER OIL

A performance characteristic of sunflower oil as a diesel fuel shows a good substitute for diesel.
Sunflower oil is processed in mass engine performance and emission were influenced by basic
differences between diesel fuel and sunflower oil, such as lower mass based healing value of oil
require large mass fuel flow to maintain constant energy input to the engine. The higher
sunflower oil viscosity also contribute to increased fuel flow rate. With increase in percentage of
sunflower oil in diesel, thermal efficiency is gradually increase.
3.1.2 SOYBEAN OIL
Soybean oil is generally used as cooking oil and can be used as fuel. When transesterified with
methyl- ester made by combining the vegetable oil with methanol. The heat value of soybean oil
7

is low, its viscosity is almost double than of diesel oil and it has slightly higher specific gravity.
Transesterified soybean oil and its characteristics are within the acceptable range and they have
the basic capacity required for an alternate fuel. It gives lower smoke and emission within certain
operation range. However its viscosity its much more which will create certain problem during
long run associated with nozzle and filter.
3.1.3 RAPESEED OIL
Rapeseed oil conventionally known as bio-diesel in UK and most suited to UK climate.
Rapeseed oil are processed to biodiesel by reaction of the oil with methanol in the presence of
catalyst usually KOH and naoh at about 50 degree Celsius. The property of rapeseed oil are
similar to diesel fuel, it is very denser and two times viscous than diesel. Nox emission is greater
problem associated with this oil. But it shows decrease in HC,CO emission along with smoke.
Due to above reasons associated with emission, viscosity and mainly with the cost this oil has
very limited use in India.
3.1.4

PEANUT OIL

Use of peanut oil as an diesel fuel has shown their basic capacity. The general characteristics of
peanut oil are very much close to diesel fuel. Density and viscosity are significantly higher as
compared to diesel fuel. Its heating value is in considerable range. The only problem encountered
during the testing was clogging of fuel filter and deposition on nozzle tip, both are very severe
problem occurred during long run of engine which shows some limiting factor to use it in diesel
engine.
3.1.5 PALM OIL
Various researches or investigations using palm oil show some bright future about its use as
diesel fuel. It has cetane number. Its methyl ester and blends are also comparable with those of
conventional diesel fuel. This all information shows that palm oil is technically feasible in
compression ignition engine.
3.1.6 KARANJA OIL
Karanja oil can be used efficiently in diesel engine after trans esterification. Viscosity of this
8

ester is well within the requirement of diesel engine. Current investigations reveal that, the
engine performance with ester and diesel-vegetable oil blend is comparable with diesel fuel
operation. The comparative standards are specific energy consumption, exhaust temperature
smoke density and exhaust emission. In general there is a rise in specific energy consumption
with the blends. The exhaust gas temperature with diesel fuel is lower than that with the blends
and comparable with methyl ester karanja oil (MEKO).

3.2 WHY NON EDIBLE OIL?

9

The fact that the petroleum fuels will neither be available in sufficient quantities and nor at
reasonable prizes in future has created interest in exploring alternate fuel for diesel engine.it is
essential that these alternative fuels for engine should be derived from indigenous sources and
preferably renewable energy sources .These requirement has generated interest in vegetable oil
as supplementary fuels. Now the question arises why vegetable oils only.
Well India is an agricultural country and there is an wide scope for production of vegetable oil
derived from oil seeds. Naturally only non-edible vegetable oil can be seriously considered as a
fuel for engine. As edible oil are already in great demand and far expensive as a fuel. According
to an economic survey conducted by an government of India the cultivated land area of about
175 mega hectares has been classified as waste or degraded land which is suitable for cultivation
like some of plant like jatropha, cure as. Even if one person is employed per hectare of land 1000
million of additional job in the extraction unit for crushing the seeds and production of oil. Nonedible vegetable oil not only utilizes waste land but also solves the problem of unemployment in
developing countries like India. Due to relatively high cost of vegetable oil, the cost of producing
edible oil is currently is more expensive than hydrocarbon based diesel fuels. The cost of
biodiesel can be reduced if one can considered non-edible oil, spent vegetable oil and used frying
oil instead of edible oil. Non-edible oil from plants such as neem, mauha, karanja, babassu,
jatropha ,etc are easily available in many parts of the world and is less expensive as compared to
edible oil. Among these plants cotton seed considered as one of the less exploited and highly
potent bio-diesel source.

3.3 COTTON SEED OIL

10

Cotton is an important fibre crop of global significance and is grown in tropical and subtropical
regions of more than eighty countries. Cotton is primarily cultivated for its lint or fibre, in other
words, lint is the main product of cotton crop. Now, cotton seed oil is also widely used for
human consumption. Thus, cotton has become a fibre cum oil yielding crop. Its seeds also
contains 20-25% protein. Hence, in future, cotton will become a source of fibre, oil and protein.
There are four products of cotton plant viz.lint, seed, stalk and leaves. Out of these, lint is the
main product and rest are by-products. Cottonseed contains hull and kernel. The hull produces
fibre and linters. The kernel contains oil, protein, carbohydrate and other constituents such as
vitamins, minerals, lecithin,sterols etc. Cottonseed oil is extracted fromcottonseed kernel.
Cottonseed oil, also termed as"Heart Oil" is among the most unsaturated edible oils. It need not
be as fully hydrogenated for many a cooking purposes as is required in case of some of the more
polyunsaturated oils. Cotton is one of the most important commercial crops of India and is the
single largest natural source of fibre. It plays a dominant role in its agrarian and industrial
economy as the backbone of textile industry, which consumes 70% of the country's total fibre
produced. It alone accounts for 38% of the country's export and fetches over Rs. 42,000 crores
annually to the exchequer. Thus, cotton production plays a vital role in Indian economy,
providing employment for more than one million farmers and employees in the domestic textile
industry. But, textiles are only the part of this great cotton story. The often-ignored fact is that the
cotton plant produces more food for man and feed for animals than fibre. All elements of cotton
seed as it is often considered as "Golden Goose".

11

Photo 3.3.1: Cotton seed tree with oil

CHAPTER - 4

PRODUCTION METHODS
1. Direct use and blending:

It is the simplest method of production, nearly 80% heat

content of petroleum. It has high viscosity. The required feedstock is readily available In
these reactivity of unsaturated hydrocarbon is high.
2. Micro emulsions: Micro emulsions method utilizes alcohol solvent to reduce viscosity,
but these process causes carbon and liqueur deposits on engine parts.

12

3. Thermal cracking :These method yields both biodiesel and gasoline, biodiesel produce
is nearly similar to petroleum. It neglects emission benefit.
4. Transesterification: Can be used as continuous process more easily meets biodiesel fuel
standard. Most common method of production, uses animal fats or vegetable oil as a
feedstock. the reaction of fat or oil with an alcohol to form an ester(biodiesel) and
glycerol.
The classification is based on the type of catalyst used :
1. Base-catalyzed transesterification of the oil with methanol.
2. Acid-catalyzed esterification of the oil with methanol.
3. Supercritical methanol process.
Most of the biodiesel produced today is done with the base catalyzed reaction or with
Supercritical Methanol comparison with acid catalyzed esterfication.
4.1 Supercritical Methanol process:

The need for processing cheaper feed stocks in order to decrease the high price of biodiesel has
been pointed out. Some plant oils like soy and sunflower oils have a highly fluctuating price and
in some years their use can be shifted from the making of biodiesel to the food market due to
high international prices. Beef tallow and yellow grease are inexpensive feed stocks discarded by
some industries which could be advantageously used in making biodiesel. High amounts of free
fatty acids (FFA, 5-30%) and they cannot be directly processed by facilities working with the
alkali catalyzed process. Many solutions have been proposed for the handling of acidic feedstock
(i)Pre-neutralization is easy but produces a net yield loss if the soaps are not recycled.
(ii)Pre-esterification of the FFA with methanol or glycerol, catalyzed by strong acids
(slow),followed by esterification in alkaline medium (fast).
(iii)Fully acid-catalyzed esterification. Acid catalysts are not as effective as the alkaline ones and
take much longer reaction time, thus leading to big reactor volume.
The process catalyzed by alkalis (NaOH, KOH) or by acids (H 2SO4) need of wash catalyst.
Washing is also used to eliminate glycerol and produces great amounts of effluents. If washing is
13

performed without flashing the untreated methanol the (water must be distilled in order to
recycle the methanol. An alternative process to the catalytic ones has been recently developed by
Japanese researchers comprises the one-stage transesterification with supercritical method.
Temperatures methanol is in a supercritical state (something that does not occur in the other
conventional processes, unless a minimum threshold of 2 attained. Reaction by supercritical
methanol has some advantages:
Glycerides and free fatty acids are reacted with equivalent rates.
The homogeneous phase eliminates diffusive problems.
The process tolerates great percentages of water in the feedstock or in intermediate stage to
prevent catalyst deactivation.
The catalyst removal step is eliminated.
Some disadvantages of the one-stage supercritical method are clear:
It operates at very high pressures (25 bar)
The high temperatures bring along proportionally high heating and cooling costs.
high methanol.

4.2 TRANSESTERIFICATION
Fuels derived from chemical and thermal process are termed as bio diesel. The chemical process
that is trans-esterification, proved to be better method for bio diesel preparation. Simple proces,
easy operation and the byproduct obtained in the form of glycerol make the process attractive
and widely accepted.
Vegetable oil are usually tri-glycerides with number of branched chains of different length. They
have nearly 10% lower heating value and several times higher viscosity compared to diesel oil.
The high viscosity of vegetable oil as compared to diesel leads to unfavorable pumping and
spray characteristics(atomization and jet penetration, etc ).The inefficient mixing of fuel with air
14

contribute to incomplete combustion . The polyunsaturated nature of vegetable oils causes high
viscosity, the combination of high viscosity and high flash point due to lower volatility resulting
carbon deposit formation, injector choking, piston ring sticking, longer ignition delay, lubrication
oil dilution and degradation. Because of this problem, vegetable oil need to be converted to more
compatible fuels for existing engines. Trans-esterification has emerged as the most viable and
effective method for the purpose.
Trans-esterification is the reversible reaction of a fat or oil (mainly glycerides) with an alcohol to
form ester and glycerol. The reaction yield ester with viscosity and volatility characteristic
similar to diesel. The bio diesel thus produced is bio-degradable, non-toxic and free from
sulphur. The bio diesel is quite similar to conventional diesel fuel is most characteristic and can
be blend in any proportion with petroleum diesel blend.

4.3 BASIC CHEMICAL REACTION

4.3.1 Catalytic trans-esterification
The catalytic trans-esterification process is the reaction of tri-glyceride with an alcohol of some
catalyst to form ester and glycerol. A tri- glyceride has a glycerin molecule as its base with three
long chain fatty acid attached .The characteristic of the oil/fat are determined by nature of the
fatty acid attached to glycerin. The nature of fatty acid can in terms affect the characteristic of
bio diesel. A successful trans-esterification reaction is signified by the separation of ester and
glycerol layer after the reaction time. The heavier, co-product, glycerol settle out and may be
sold as it is or it may be purified for use in other industries, that is the pharmaceutical, cosmetics
etc. The trans-esterification reaction is represented by the general equation as:
15

RCOOR+ROH RCOOR+RO
If methanol is used in this process it is called methanolysis.
4.3.2Based catalysed Transeterification:
Transeterification is one of the reversible reactions. However, the presence of a catalyst(a strong
acid or base) accelerates the conversions. The mechanism of alkali-catalysed transesterification
is described below. The first step involves the attack of the alkoxide ion to the carbonyl carbon of
the triglyceride molecules.

The formation of ester from the triglyceride is shown stepwise in reation 1,2,3&4.

16

4.3.3 Mechanism of base cataysed Transesterification

Production of methyl esters using vegetable oil or animal fat feedstock requires selective
catalysis and controlled process conditions to meet customer driven product specifications. The
key issue is the purity of the feedstock. The resulting reaction is called transesterification

17

where the catalyst speeds the exchange of glycerol with three methanols creating methyl esters of
fatty acids as noted in above figure .
Overall transesterification reaction is shown as follow;

Effectively, the resulting glycerine separates from the fatty acid methyl esters by gravity. Many
proprietary and patented processes govern the many aspects in these chemical Reactions,
separations, and subsequent purification steps.
In general, the process consists of five sections:
1) Two-stage reaction to make biodiesel
2) Separation of the biodiesel layer after each stage in the reaction
3) Water wash of the biodiesel
4) Methanol and water recovery from all products and byproducts
5) Methanol and water purification by distillation for reuse in the process

CHAPTER - 5

FABRICATION OF BIODIESEL PLANT

18

5.1 EQUIPMENT USED

1) Oil storage tank /reaction tank
Material- Mild steel
Capacity- 15 liter
Dimension- 250dia x 300mm
Weight- 10kg

Figure 5.1.1:Reaction tank

2) Alcohol storage tank
Material- Mild steel
Capacity- 5 liter
Dimension- 200dia x 180mm
Weight- 7kg

Figure 5.1.2: catalyst preparation tank

3) Condenser
Material borosilicate glass
Type-coil type condenser
Quantity-1

19

Figure 5.1.3 Condenser

4) Heater
Wattage-3000 w
Quantity- 2
5) Thermocouple
Quantity- 1
Type- RTD

Figure 5.1.4 Thermocouple

6) Control unit
a) Temperature indicator
b) Rpm indicator
c) Main switch
d) Heater connection
e) Speed regulator- 2

20

Figure 5.1.5 control unit

7) Glycerin storage tank
8) Washing equipment
Plastic flask
9) Valve
Material- Brass
Quantity- 2

10)Stirrer
Material-Mild steel
Speed- 600 to 650 rpm
Quantity- 2
11)Settling beaker
Material-Borosilicate glass
Capacity- 3 liter

21

Figure 5.1.6 Settling beaker

5.2 DIAGRAM OF PLANT LAYOUT

Following figure shows the complete set up of biodiesel plant which consist of reaction tank
and settling tank and other accessories.

22

Photo 5.1.2: Biodiesel plant

The schematic diagram of biodiesel plant is attached.

CHAPTER - 6

PROCEDURE
6.1 General process
23

Mixing of alcohol and catalyst: the catalyst is typically sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) or
potassium hydroxide (potash). It is dissolved in the alcohol using a standard agitator or mixer.
Reaction:
The alcohol/catalyst mix is then charged into a closed reaction vessel and the oil or fat is added.
The system from here on is totally closed to the atmosphere to prevent the loss of alcohol. The
reaction mix is kept just above the boiling point of the alcohol (around 160 f) to speed up the
reaction and the reaction take place recommendation time varies from 1 to 8 hours, and some
systems recommend the reaction take place at room temperature. Excess alcohol is normally
used to ensure total conversion of the fat or oil to its esters. Care must be taken to monitor the
amount of water and free fatty acids in the incoming oil or fat. If the free fatty acid level or water
level is too high it may cause problems with soap formation and the separation of the glycerin by
product downstream.
Separation:
Once the reaction is complete, two major products exist: glycerin and biodiesel. Each has a
substantial amount of the excess methanol that was used in the reaction. The reacted mixture is
sometimes neutralized at this step if needed. The glycerin phase is much denser than biodiesel
phase and two can be gravity separated with glycerin simply drawn off the bottom of the settling
vessel. In some cases, a centrifuge is used to separate the two materials faster.
Alcohol removal:
Once the glycerin and biodiesel phases have been separated and excess alcohol in each phase is
removed with a flash evaporation process or by distillation. In others systems, the alcohol is
removed and the mixture neutralized before the glycerin and esters have been separated. In either
case, the alcohol is recovered using distillation equipment and is re-used. Care must be taken to
ensure no water accumulates in the recovered alcohol stream.
Glycerin neutralization:
The glycerin by-product contain unused catalyst and soaps that are neutralised with acid and sent
to storage as crude glycerin. In some cases the salt formed during this phase is recovered for use
24

as fertilizer. In most cases the salt is left in the glycerin. Water and alcohol are removed to
produce 80-88% glycerin that is ready to be sold as crude glycerin. In more sophisticated
operations, the glycerin is distilled to 99% or higher purity and sold into the cosmetic and
pharmaceutical markets.
Methyl ester wash:
once separated from the glycerin, the biodiesel is sometimes purified by washing gently with
warm water to remove residual catalyst or soaps, dried, and sent to storage. There are two type of
washing the biodiesel:
Water wash
Dry wash
Main factors affecting:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Conversion rate
Molar ratio of glycerides to alcohol
Catalyst
Reaction temperature and time
Contents of free fatty acids and
Water

6.2 EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

6.2.1 Oil preparation:
1) Collect the oil seeds and allow it to pass washing.
2) Then dry seeds and make sure that the seeds are free of moisture or any foreign matter.
3) Crushed the seeds in the crushing machine
4) Extract the crude oil and filter the crude oil to avoid the possibility of unwanted material.
5) In case crude oil is affected by high temperature , the oil should be liquefied by heating up to
40 degrees in the reactor tank.
25

6.2.2 Different steps for the biodiesel production are:

1) Firstly do the sample testing to obtain the proper ratio of input oil and catalyst mixture. It is
done by finding the acid value of cotton seed oil that is we are finding the amount of base to be
added to cotton seed oil to neutralize it
2) Inserting the methanol and adequate amount of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) into the reactor
tank.
3) This mixture us heated up to 60 to 65 degree Celsius with continuous stirring .
4) Then methanol in which catalyst NaOH is added is mixed with vegetable oil i.e cottonseed
oil into another reaction chamber and this mixture is heated continuously at 60 to 65 degree
Celsius for a 80 to 100 minute with continuous stirring.
5) Then this mixture is kept for settling down for 8 hrs.
6) After 8 hours we observed two layers the bottom phase is crude glycerin and the upper phase
is biodiesel.
7) Then these two phases of methyl-ester and glycerol are separated.
8) Glycerin is transferred into washing tank for washing.
9) Then biodiesel is transferred through silica gel for washing .
10 )After washing of glycerol it is use as a by-product for the preparation of soap.

6.2.3 FLOWDIAGRAM:
The flow diagram for preparation of biodiesel from feedstock oil and methanol using catalyst
is shown in following figure;

26

Figure 6.2.3:Flowchart of biodiesel procedure

6.3 PRODUCTS AFTER REACTION:

27

Photo No 6.3.1 -Biodiesel

Photo No 6.3.2- Glycerol

CHAPTER - 7

CHARACTERIZATION OF BIODIESEL
28

Following properties of the produced biodiesel are analysed:

Density: It is defined as the mass per unit volume of any liquid at a giventemperature.
Biodiesel has a slightly higher density compared to petrodiesel.The density can be determinate
with the equation:
=(test tube full test tube empty)/biodiesel volume
Viscosity measurement: It is an indicator of the measure of resistance to flow of a liquid due
tointernal friction of one part of a fluid moving over another. Biodiesel has a similar viscosity to
the diesel. High viscosity values can be a result of inefficient washing, with many remains of
monoglyceride.Dynamic viscosity can be measured by the aid of a viscometerthrough following
relation:
=k .t .(sphere biodiesel )
In the equation constant value (k) is unknown and it is needed to find via another mediumwhich
has known viscosity and density. In this experiment a mixture of glycerol and water is taken in
volume. The concentration of solution is 20% We need to find the value of k(constant); so, it is
possible to use viscometer for a known fluid and measure the value of k. We use 20% glycerol
solution in water.
Following data is available for 20% glycerol solution in water
glycerol = 1.0425 gm/ml
=1.542 cP
ball=1.32 gm/ml
Production of biodiesel from sunflower oil and ethanol by base catalysedtransesterification.For
this experiment the falling time is equal to 0.93 s. As a result the value of k willbeequal to 6.03.
Kinematic viscosity is the ratio of dynamic viscosity to density.

Yield:

29

The yield of biodiesel indicates the percentage of biodiesel produced, in relation to the
theoretical volume calculated.
% yield = (v real / v theo. )* 100
Where:
Vreal: Volume of biodiesel obtained in each sample.
Vtheo: Theoretical volume of produced biodiesel.
The volume of obtained biodiesel is known and measured for each sample. The
theoreticalvolume is calculated from the molar weight and density(0.85 g/ml, estimated in
laboratory) of the cotton seed oil, and the molar weight and density of biodiesel.Production of
biodiesel from cotton seed oil and ethanol by base catalyzed transesterification.
In the experiments, 200 ml oil was used. It corresponds to 0.198 moles:
200ml 0.85gm/mole1875 =0.198 moles
The theoretical amount of biodiesel formed is:
0.198 moles3 = 0.594 moles
The theoretical volume of produced biodiesel is (i the density of the produced biodiesel):
Vtheo=0.594moles301 /i
The biodiesel production reaction is:
Triglycerides + Monohydric alcohol Glycerine + Monoalkyl esters
The stoichiometric reaction requires 1 mole of triglyceride and 3 moles of alcohol. The process is
a sequence of three consecutive and reversible reactions. The diglycerides and
monoglyceridesterarethe intermediate products.An excess of alcohol is used to shift the
equilibrium to the right.The phase of biodiesel contains some impurities, mainly, unreacted oil.

30

Samp
-le

Volm
Catalyst
Meth- Weight
anol
(gm)
(ml)

Glycer
-in
(ml)

Raw
biodiese
l
(ml)

Clean
Biodies
el
(ml)

Density
Biodiesel
(gm/ml)

90

0.843

29

244

216

60

0.858

28

214

120

1.508

12

90

1.507

90

Yields
( %)

Refractive
index

0.82

Viscos
-ity
Biodie
sel
Cp
3.16

82.4

1.157

200

0.86

4.56

80.4

1.458

288

275

0.86

4.07

87.7

1.439

37

235

225

0.84

4.60

87.8

1.455

1.522

30

239

229

0.84

4.15

90.0

1.449

120

0.826

32

273

260

0.84

4.05

83.3

1.455

90

0.823

33

240

233

0.85

3.70

92.3

1.447

90

0.804

34

243

236

0.84

3.83

92.8

1.445

60

1.528

47

197

194

0.85

4.08

77.6

1.451

Table 7.2.1: Yield and properties of the obtained biodiesel in the experiments

CHAPTER - 8
31

TRANSPORTATION, HANDLING, STORAGE

For any new fuel to be widely accepted and used, its characteristics relative to ease of use should
be comparable to existing fuels. The following chapter of the report addresses the transportation,
handling and storage of biodiesel fuels.
8.1 Transportation
Since biodiesel gels at low temperatures, it is difficult to transport biodiesel like any other diesel
fuels at low temperatures. Some of the methods recommended for transportation of biodiesel are:

Kept hot in tank cars for immediate delivery.

In insulated rail tank cars equipped with steam coils (the tank cars are melted with
steam at the final destination as needed).
In 20 percent blends with available winter diesel.
In a 50 percent blend with diesel no. 1 (kerosene). A 50:50 blend of cottonseed biodiesel
and kerosene has a pour point of 0 f in most cases.

8.2 Handling
Clean biodiesel made from methyl and ethyl esters of soy and other vegetable oils is
notcorrosive to skin. However, blends of biodiesel can cause irritation and a burning sensation to
sensitive body parts, so it is advisable to wear rubber gloves while dealing with biodiesel.
Spontaneous combustion may be a problem because the fuel can oxidize in the air; consequently
rags that contain biodiesel and other combustible material should be put in closed metal cans or
dried individually. Biodiesel is also considered essentially nontoxic.

8.3 Solvency
Since biodiesel is a mild solvent, it may help to remove engine deposits that settle in the storage
tanks of vehicles as well as systems. As a result, fuel filters in vehicles may become plugged,
32

giving a false impression that biodiesel plugs filters, while it actually helps clear out sediments
deposited in storage tanks. If biodiesel or a biodiesel blend is used in an engine where diesel no.2
was previously used, fuel filters will initially get clogged as the biodiesel cleans out deposits left
by diesel no.2. These problems are most pronounced in b100 in older (pre-1992) engines; some
problems have been observed with b20, and no problems have been reported with b2(61). It is
recommended that one should read the guidelines provided for that kind of biodiesel before using
higher biodiesel blends in their vehicles.
8.4 Storage
Diesel fuels gel at lower temperatures; likewise biodiesel gels at lower temperatures. The main
factor that defines the temperature at which any fuel gels is the presence of saturated components
in that fuel. As the fuel gels, its flow properties are affected, inhibiting its ability to flow out of
storage tanks and choking fuel filters and hoses. If any degraded fuel in a storage tank gets
consumed by an engine, there is a potential for deposits and sludge in the fuel system. Biodiesel
degrades four times faster than diesel and at the same rate as dextrose (a sugar). Hence, it
becomes necessary to store fuel at proper temperatures and in stable environments. B100 can be
stored at temperatures 15 degrees higher than the pour point of the fuel (30-50 f).

CHAPTER - 9

ADVANTAGES OF BIODIESEL
33

There are numerous uses of bio diesel. Some of the most important are listed below
1. Biodiesel run in any conventional, unmodified diesel engine. No engine modification is
up to certain blend.
2. Biodiesel can be stored anywhere like petroleum diesel is stored. All diesel fuelling
necessary infrastructure including pump, tank and transport trucks can use biodiesel
without any major modification.
3. Biodiesel reduce carbon-dioxide emission, which is the primary cause of greenhouse
effect.Since the biodiesel comes from plants and plants breathe carbon-dioxide, there is
no net gain from CO2 from biodiesel.
4. Biodiesel can be used alone or mixed in any amount with petroleum diesel fuel. A 20%
5.

blend of biodiesel with diesel fuel is called B20 & 5% blend is called B5 and so on.
Biodiesel is more lubricating than diesel fuel, it increases the engine life and it can use to
replace sulphur, a lubricating agent that, when burned, produce SO2. The primary
component is acid rain. Instead of sulphur, all diesel fuel sold in France contains 5%

biodiesel.
6. Biodiesel is safe to handle because it is bio-degradable and nontoxic. According to the
national biodiesel board neat diesel is an biodegradable as sugar and less toxic than salt.
7. Biodiesel is safe to transport. It has a high flash point, or ignition temperature of about
150 degree Celsius compared to petroleum diesel fuel, which has a flash of 52 degree
celsius.
8. Engine running on biodiesel run normally and have similar fuel mileage to engine
running on diesel fuel. Auto ignition, fuel consumption, power output, and engine torque
are relatively unaffected by biodiesel.
9. Produced from sustainable renewable biological sources.
10. Eco friendly and oxygenated fuel.

CHAPTER - 10

PROJECT GOALS
.
1) Confirm EPA reductions in real life operations.
2) Use a variety of equipment types & applications.
3) Share information and results.
34

4)
5)
6)
7)
8)

First hand knowledge of how it would function.

Educate staff.
Provide community recycling plant and an environmentally clean energy source.
Provide skills training and education for young professionals.
Provide ongoing academic research into alternative clean fuels.

CHAPTER - 11

CONCLUSIONS

Biodiesel refers to methyl or ethyl esters obtained of transesterification of animal fats or

vegetable oils, pure or waste cooking oils. Although, the pure biodiesel (B100) can be
used in the diesel engines, currently, the biodiesel is blended with diesel. The main

35

vehicles manufacturers have certified truck engines for use with up to 30% biodiesel in

petrodiesel.
Experiments with using 50% biodiesel in trucks are under way. The Valdescorriel
Biodiesel plant, located in Zamora (Spain), is taken as model of reference to study the

profitability and economics of a biodiesel plant.

The Valdescorriel plant has a nominal production capacity of 20000 biodiesel tons per
year and2000 glycerol tons. The future prospects are increasing the biodiesel production

until 50000tons per year.

The biodiesel yield in the plant is 96.5%. 356 kg oil enters in the reactor, and 343.54 kg
of biodiesel is produced. Recent studies have demonstrated that the biodiesel yield can

reach98%.
The initial investment for the biodiesel plant construction is the 4 500 000 . A high
initial investment is necessary. The economic analysis demonstrates that the benefits are 2
million/year. The NPV (Net Present value) calculation shows that it is possible to
recover the investment after 3 years. The IRR (Internal Return Rate) is the 63%. The life

of the facility is considered 30 years.

The energy balance for the plant is positive. The energy used for the biodiesel production

is30% less than the obtained energy from the produced biodiesel.
Moreover, a significant CO2 emissions reduction is achieved replacing petroleum diesel
by biodiesel. The CO2 reduction can reach the 48%. So, the Valdescorriel biodiesel plant

can reduce the CO2 emissions in 55,000 tons per year.

The experimental part of this work includes the production of biodiesel from cottonseed
oil and ethanol, with sodium hydroxide as catalyst. The aim is to study the influence of
the ratio ethanol :oil and the amount of catalyst on the yield as well on the properties of
the produced biodiesel. The measured properties of the biodiesel are density, viscosity

and refractive.
Production of biodiesel from sunflower oil and ethanol by base catalyzed
transesterification. The experiments demonstrate that the ethanol/oil ratio influences on

the biodiesel production. The yield of biodiesel increases with the ethanol/oil ratio.
Regarding the influence of the amount of catalyst on biodiesel production in the studied
conditions is not possible to achieve a definitive conclusion. But a tendency showing an
increasing of the biodiesel yield with the amount of catalyst can be appreciated. Further
experiments would be necessary in this case.

36

Finally, a parallel experiment is performed with the aim of check the reaction evolution.
The reaction reaches the maximum performance after one hour. At the studied conditions,
Reaction time of 1 hour it is enough to reach the highest yield of biodiesel. Production of
biodiesel from sunflower oil and ethanol by base catalyzed transesterification

CHPTER - 12

SCOPE FOR FUTURE WORK

Same plant can be preparedfor the capacity of 50 to 60 lit. Which increase the per day
production rate. By changing the catalyst the production rate can be improve with
minimizing the use of methanol. Borosilicate tube of 10 to 12 litcapacity required for water
washing of the finally prepared biodiesel which increases capacity of plant.
37

Blending the biodiesel with diesel can be utilized in vehicle. Experiment can be perform by
using different oils as yield varies with the oil. By varying the proportions of methanol and
catalyst different yields of biodiesel can be obtain. There is wide scope of biodiesel in future
as price of conventional diesel increases day by day.

REFERENCES
Technical Papers :
1) Malhotra R.K,Das L.M,Bio-fuel as Blending Component for Diesel Fuel,Journal of
Scientific & Industrial Research,2012,Vol.62(6),pp.90-96
2) Gupta A.K, Conversion of Non-Edible Oil in Biodiesel, International Journal of
Biodiesel for Non-edible Oil,2010,Vol.52(5),pp. 124-132

38

3) Patil P.R,Development of a Biodiesel Production Plant, Journal of National Research

& Education Conference,2011, Vol.40(4),pp.24-38
4) Anderson D.D,Industrial Biodiesel Plant Design and Engineering, International
Journal of Production of Biodiesel from Palm Oil,2003,Vol.9(3),pp.24-28
5) Grift T.E,Hansen A.C,Effect of Biodiesel on Engine Performances and Emissions,
International Journal of Testing and Performance of Engines,2010,Vol.8(5)pp.23-31.
6) Singh R.K, Pandhi S.K, Characterization of Jatropa Oil for Preparation of
Biodiesel,International Journal for Characterization of Biodiesel from Jatropha
oil,2009,Vol.5(7),pp.60-69
7) Allen M.G,Modellingof The Biodiesel Reaction,Journal for Preparation and Reaction of
Biodiesel,2005,Vol.2(5),pp.38-41
Books:
1) Ganesan V,INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE,3rd Edition, Tata Mc-Graw Hill
Companies, New Delhi,2007,110 008,pp.211-214
2) Rajput R.K,THERMAL ENGINEERING, 8thEdition, Laxmi Publication, New Delhi ,
2008,pp.1083-1109
Websites:
1) https://www.doe.gov.ph/energy-resources-alternative-fuels/biofuels,Dated Nov 27, 2013
2) http://jgi.doe.gov/pond-dwelling-powerhouses-genome-points-biofuel-potential,Dated
Dec 20, 2013

39

BIODATA OF PROJECTIES
Name: Rupesh Maroti Chimurkar
Address : Kalmeshwar,Nagpur 441 501
Email: rupesh_chimurkar@rediffmail.com
Mobile No: 9503818021
Name: Swapnil Lokram Kombe
Address: Kannamwar Nagar,Gadchiroli, 442 605
Email: swapnilkombe1992@gmail.com
Mobile No: 9604496065
Name: Hemant Tejram Kurekar
Address: Bhaiwadi,Narkhed 441 507
Email: hemantkurekar@gmail.com
Mobile No: 9890184783
Name: Snehal Ramchandraji Maske
Address: Parseoni,Nagpur 441 105
Email: snehalrudal@yahoo.com
Mobile no: 9273316247
Name: Pawan Vijay Bichwe
Address: Dhapewada, Kalmeshwar 441 501
Email: pawan.bichwe2@rediffmail.com
Mobile No: 7709238961

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