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Introduction
Petroleum based fuels are limited reserves
concentrated in certain regions of the world.
Therefore, countries lacking such resources are facing
foreign exchange crisis, mainly due to the import of
crude oil. Alternative fuels and propulsion systems
have potential to solve such problems and concerns
from air pollution and global warming to other
environmental and sustainability issues1,2.
Biodiesel, an alternative diesel fuel, is made from
renewable biological sources such as vegetable oil
and animal fats. It is biodegradable, non-toxic and
possesses low emission profiles. It has become more
attractive because of its environmental benefits and
renewable resource3. Chemically, bio-diesel is monoalkyl-ester especially mono ethyl ester of long-chainfatty acids derived from renewable lipid sources.
Biodiesel is ester based oxygenated fuel from
renewable biological sources. It can be used in
compression ignition engines with little or no
modifications4.
Transesterfication of triglycerides by lower
aliphatic alcohols (1-8 carbon atoms) has proved to be
the most promising process. Critical temperature and
critical pressure of such alcohols are as follows
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*E-mail: ayhandemirbas@hotmail.com
859
Glycerin +
(1)
860
Fig. 2Changes in yield percentage of methyl esters as treated with subcritical and supercritical methanol at different temperatures as a
function of reaction time6. Molar ratio of vegetable oil to methyl alcohol: 1:41; Sample: Hazelnut kernel oil
Fig. 3Plots for changes in fatty acids alkyl esters conversion from triglycerides as treated in supercritical alcohol at 575 K77
Fig. 4Plots for yields of methyl esters as a function of water content in transesterification of triglycerides
Fig. 5Plots for yields of methyl esters as a function of free fatty acid content
861
862
Table 1Comparisons between catalytic methanol (MeOH) process and supercritical methanol (SCM) method for biodiesel from
vegetable oils by transesterification
Methylating agent
Catalyst
Reaction temperature, K
Reaction pressure, MPa
Reaction time, min
Methyl ester yield, wt%
Removal for purification
Free fatty acids
Process
SCM method
Methanol
Acid or alkali
303-338
0.1
60360
97
Methanol, catalyst, glycerol, saponifieds
Saponified products
Complicated
Methanol
None
523573
1025
615
98
Methanol
Methyl esters, water
Simple
Table 2Comparisons of properties of vegetable oils and their esters with diesel fuel
Fuel type
Diesel fuel
Sunflower oil
Sunflower methyl ester
Cotton seed oil
Cotton seed methyl ester
Soybean oil
Soybean methyl ester
Corn oil
Opium poppy oil
Rapeseed oil
Caloricfic value
MJ/kg
Density
kg/m3
Viscosity at 300 K
mm2/s
Cetane number
43.4
39.5
40.6
39.6
40.6
39.6
39.8
37.8
38.9
37.6
815
918
878
912
874
914
872
915
921
914
4.3
58.5
10.3
50.1
11.1
65.4
11.1
46.3
56.1
39.2
47.0
37.1
45.5
48.1
45.5
38.0
37.0
37.6
37.6
863
864
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
865