Unit-- IV

Unit

Fuels & Combustion

Fuels and Combustion
Fuel
A combustible substance, which on combustion produces
a large amount of heat, which can be used for various
domestic and industrial purposes

Combustion
The process of combustion involves oxidation of carbon,
hydrogen etc. of the fuels to CO2, H2O, and the
difference in the energy of reactants and the products
are liberated as large amount of heat energy which is
utilized.
Fuel + O2 Products + Heat

The primary or main source of fuels are coal and petroleum oils, the
amounts of which are dwindling day by day. These are stored fuels
available in earth's crust and are generally called "fossil fuels".
 Classification of Fuels

Primary or Secondary or
Natural Derived

Solid Liquid Gaseous Solid Liquid Gaseous

Coke Tar Coal gas
Wood
Crude Natural Charcoal Kerosene Water gas
Coal
oil gas Petroleum- Diesel Oil gas
Dung
coke Petrol Biogas
Coal- Fuel oil Coke oven
briquette LPG gas
Synthetic Blast
gasoline furnace gas
Does the efficiency of the same quantity of different kind of fuels
are the same?
For example

Answer is No!
Calorific Value or the capacity to supply heat

"the total quantity of heat liberated when

a unit mass or volume of the fuel is burnt
completely".
Units of heat
1. Calorie
The amount of heat required to raise the temperature of
one gram of water through one degree centigrade

2. Kilocalorie (or) kilogram centigrade units

the unit of metric system and is equal to 1000 calories. This may
be defined as "the quantity of heat required to raise the
temperature of one kilogram of water through one degree
centigrade".

Thus 1 kcal = 1000 cal

Units of heat continued
3. British thermal unit (B. Th. U.)
the quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of one
pound of water through one degree Fahrenheit

1 B. Th. U. = 252 cal = 0.252 k cal.

1 k cal = 3.968 B. Th. U.

4. Centigrade Heat Unit (C. H. U.)

"quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of
water through one degree centigrade".

Thus, 1 k cal = 3.968 B. Th. U. = 2.2 C. H. U.

 Higher or Gross Calorific Value (HCV or GCV)

Most of the fuels contain some hydrogen and when the calorific
value of hydrogen containing fuel is determined experimentally, the
hydrogen is converted to steam

If the products of combustion are condensed to room temperature

(15C or 60F), the latent heat of condensation of steam also gets
included in the measured heat, which is then called "higher or gross
calorific value"

So gross or higher calorific value may be defined as "the total

amount of heat produced when one unit mass/volume of the fuel
has been burnt completely and the products of combustion have
been cooled to room temperature"
Lower or Net Calorific Value (LCV)
In actual case of any fuel, the water vapour and moisture etc are not
condensed and escapes as such along with hot combustion gases. Hence a
lesser amount of heat is available. So, net or lower calorific value may be
defined as "the net heat produced when unit mass / volume of the fuel is burnt
completely and the products are permitted to escape".

Net or lower calorific value can be found from GCV value

NCV = GCV - Latent heat of water vapour formed

= GCV - Mass of hydrogen 9 latent heat of steam

1 part by mass of hydrogen produces 9 parts by mass of water.

The latent heat of steam is 587 k cal / kg or 1060 B. Th. U. / lb of

water vapour formed at room temperature. (ie 15C)
Characteristics of a good fuel
1.High Calorific Value
2.Moderate Ignition Temperature
3.Low Moisture Content
4.Low non-combustible matter content
5.Moderate velocity of combustion
6.Products of combustion should not be harmful
7.Low Cost
8.Easy to transport
9.Combustion should be easily controllable
10.Should not undergo spontaneous combustion
11.Storage cost in bulk should be low
12.Size should be uniform (solid fuel) Combustion is
regular
 Comparison between solid, liquid and gaseous fuel

Solid Fuels
Advantages
1. They are easy to transport
2. They are convenient to store, without any risk of spontaneous
explosion
3. The cost of production is low
4. They posses moderate ignition temperature

Disadvantages
1. The ash content is high
2. Large production of heat wasted during combustion (low thermal
energy)
3. Burn with clinker formation
4. Combustion operations can not be controlled easily
5. Cost of handling is high
6. Calorific value is lower as compared to liquid fuel
7. Require large excess of air for combustion
8. Can not be used in internal combustion engines
Liquid Fuels

Advantages
1. Posses high calorific value per unit mass than solid fuel
2. Burn without forming clinker, ash, dust etc.
3. Firing is easier and fire can be extinguished easily by stopping
fuel supply
4. They are easy to transport through pipes
5. Can be stored indefinitely, without any loss
6. Flame can be controlled
7. Handling is easy
8. Clean in use and economic in labour
9. Loss of heat in chimney is low
10. They require less excess of air for complete combustion
11. Require less furnace space for combustion
12. Can be used in internal combustion fuels
 Liquid Fuels

Disadvantages

1. Cost of liquid fuel is relatively higher

2. Costly storage tanks are required
3. Greater risk of fire hazards
4. Gives bad odour
5. Specially designed burners and spraying apparatus are required
6. Choking of sprayers (during combustion) is a drawback of oil
firing
Gaseous Fuels

Advantages
1. Conveyed easily through pipelines to the actual place of need
2. Lighted at moment of notice
3. High heat content, and helps to achieve higher temperatures
4. Combustion can be readily controlled
5. Burn without any smoke and ash less
6. Clean in use
7. Do not require any special burners
8. Burn without heat loss, due to convection currents
9. They burn even in slight excess of air supply
10. Free from solid and liquid impurities
11. Complete combustion without pollution is possible
12. High Calorific values
13. Can also be used as internal combustion engine
Gaseous Fuels

Disadvantages
1. Large storage tanks are needed for them
2. Highly inflammable, chances of fire hazards are high in their use
use
3. More costly compared to solid and liquid fuels
Determination of Calorific Value

Bomb calorimeter
 Calculation

x = mass of fuel pellet (g)

W = mass of water in the calorimeter (g)
w = weight equivalent of water which is obtained by burning fuel
whose calorific vaue is known (g)
t1 = initial temperature of calorimeter.
t2 = final temperature of calorimeter.
L= Higher calorific value of fuel in cal/g.

HCV = (W+w) (t2-t1) Cal/g

x
 Water Equivalent of the calorimeter is determined by
burning a fuel of known calorific value (benzoic acid (HCV
= 6,325 kcal/kg) and naphthalene (HCV = 9,688 kcal/kg)

If H is the percentage of hydrogen in fuel,

the mass of water produced from 1 g of fuel (9/100)
= (9 /100)
/100) H
= 0.09 H

Heat taken by water in forming steam = 0.09 H 587 cal

(latent heat of steam = 587 cal/kg)

LCV = HCV Latent heat of water formed

 Corrections
Fuse wire correction.
Heat liberated during sparking should be _______________ from heat
liberated.
Acid correction.
Fuels containing Sulphur and Nitrogen if oxidised, the heats of
formation of H2SO4 and HNO3 should be subtracted (as the acid
formations are exothermic reactions).

Cooling correction.
The rate of cooling of the calorimeter from maximum temperature to room
temperature is noted. From this rate of cooling (i.e., dt/min) and the actual
time taken for cooling (t min) then correction (dt t) is called cooling correction
and is added to the (t2 . t1) term.

(W+w) (t2-t1+Cooling Correction) (Acid + Fuse Correction)

L =
Mass of the fuel (x)
 Dulongs Formula
The approximate calorific value of a fuel can be determined by knowing
the amount of constituents present:

Gross or higher calorific value (HCV) from elemental constituents of a fuel.

H = 34500 kcal/kg; C = 8080 kcal/kg; S = 2240 kcal/kg

Oxygen present in the fuel is assumed to be present as water (fixed

hydrogen).
Available Hydrogen = Total hydrogen - Fixed hydrogen
= Total hydrogen - 1/8 mass of oxygen in fuel.

Dulongs formula for calorific value from the chemical composition of fuel
is,
Combustion
Combustion is defined as the
burning of a fuel
and oxidant to produce heat
and/ or work

Combustion includes thermal, hydrodynamic, and chemical processes

It starts with the mixing of fuel and oxidant, and sometimes in the presence of other
species or catalysts.

the fuel can be gaseous, liquid, or solid and the mixture may be ignited with
a heat source

when ignited, chemical reactions of fuel and oxidant take place and the heat release
from the reaction creates a self-sustained process

The combustion products include heat, light, chemical species, pollutants, mechanical
work, and plasma
 Combustion continued

An exothermic chemical reaction, which is accompanied by the heat and light at the
rapid rate

C (s) + O2 (g) CO2 (g) + 97 kcal

Ignition or Kindling temperature
The minimum temperature at which the substance ignites and burns without further
addition of heat from outside

Explosive range of the gaseous fuel

A gaseous fuel undergoes combustion on ignition only if its

concentration in the fuel-air mixture is in- between the lower and upper
combustion limits

For Example, the explosive range of hydrogen = 6 to 71; petrol

vapor = 2 to 45
 Calculation of Air qualities
To find out the amount of oxygen and hence, the amount of air
required for the combustion of unit quantity of fuel, it is necessary to
apply the following elementary principles

1. Substances always combine in definite proportions and these properties

properties
are determined by the molecular masses of the substances involve
involved
d and the
products formed

C (s) + O2 (g) CO2 (g)

Mass proportions 12 32 44

2H2 (g) + O2 (g) 2H2O (g)

Mass proportions 2x2=4 32 2 x 18 =36
2. 22.4 L ( or 22,400 mL) of any gas at STP (i.e. 0
0C and 760 mm pressure) has
the mass equal to its 1 mol. Thus 22.4 L of CO2 at STP will have a mass of 44 g

3. Air contains 21% of Oxygen by volume; and mass percent oxygen is 23.

i. e. 1 Kg of oxygen is supplied by

1 x 100
= 4.35 Kg of air
23
Similarly, 1 m3 of oxygen is supplied by
1 x 100
= 4.76 Kg of air
21
4. Molecular mass of air is taken as 28. 94 g mol-1
The two most dominant components in dry air are Oxygen and Nitrogen. Oxygen
has a 16 atomic unit mass and Nitrogen has a 14 atomic units mass. Since both of
these elements are diatomic in air - O2 and N2, the molecular mass of Oxygen is 32
and the molecular mass of Nitrogen is 28.

Components in Dry Volume Ratio Molecular Mass - M Molecular Mass in

Air compared to Dry Air (kg/kmol) Air

Oxygen 0.2095 32.00 6.704

Nitrogen 0.7809 28.02 21.88

Carbon Dioxide 0.0003 44.01 0.013

Hydrogen 0.0000005 2.02 0

Argon 0.00933 39.94 0.373
Neon 0.000018 20.18 0
Helium 0.000005 4.00 0
Krypton 0.000001 83.8 0
Xenon 0.09 10-6 131.29 0
Total Molecular Mass of Air 28.97
5. Minimum O2 required

= Theoretical O2 required O2 present in the fuel

6. Minimum O2 required should be calculated on the basis of complete

combustion. If the combustion product contain CO and O2, then excess O2 is
found by subtracting the amount of O2 required to burn CO to CO2
7. The mass of dry flue gases formed should be calculated by balancing
balancing the
carbon in the fuel and carbon in the flue gases

8. The mass of any gas can be converted to its volume at certain temperature
temperature
and pressure by using the gas equation

9. In total amount of hydrogen, some of them may be presented in non

non-
on-
combustible form (H2O). Only the rest of the hydrogen (available hydrogen)
takes part in the combustion reaction

4H + O2 2H2O + Heat
Mass proportions 4 32 2 x 18 =36
 partss by mass
Now, 1 part of mass of hydrogen combines chemically with 8 part
of oxygen, so the available hydrogen

= Mass of hydrogen (Mass of oxygen/8)

Theoretical amount of oxygen required for the complete combustion

combustion of 1 Kg of
solid or liquid fuel

32 C + 8 (H-O/8)+S Kg
=
12

Where, C, H, S, and O represents the masses of carbon, hydrogen, sulphur, and

oxygen respectively per Kg of fuel

Since the percentage of O2 in air by mass is 23, so the amount of air

required theoretically for combustion of 1 Kg of fuel

32 C + 8 (H-O/8)+S Kg
= 100/23
12
 Knocking
In an internal combustion engine, a mixture of gasoline
vapour and air is used as a fuel.

The ratio of the gaseous volume in the

cylinder at the end of the suction-
stroke to the volume at the end of
compression-stroke of the piston is
known as the 'compression ratio'.
After the initiation of the combustion
reaction by spark in the cylinder, the
flame should spread rapidly and
smoothly through the gaseous mixture,
thereby the expanding gas drives the
piston down the cylinder
 Compression ratio (CR) is defined as the ratio of the cylinder
volume (V1) at the end of the suction stroke to the volume (V2) at the
end of the compression stroke of the piston.

V1 being greater than V2, the CR is >1.

The CR indicates the extent of compression of the fuel-air-mixture

by the piston.

However, successful high compression ratio is dependent on the

nature of the constituents present in the gasoline used.

In certain circumstances, due to the presence of some constituents

in the gasoline used, the rate of oxidation becomes so great that the
last portion of the fuel-air mixture gets ignited instantaneously
producing an explosive violence, known as 'knocking'.

The knocking results in loss of efficiency, since this ultimately

decreases the compression ratio.
 Chemical structure and knocking
The tendency of fuel constituents to knock is in the following order.
order.

Straight -chain paraffins > branched - chain paraffins (iso-

(iso-paraffin) >
olefins > cyclo paraffins (naphthenes) > aromatics.

Octane number
The most common way of expressing the knocking
characteristics of a combustion engine fuel is by 'octane
number', introduced by Edger.
A measure of the resistance of petrol and
other fuels to autoignition
n-heptance, knocks very badly and hence, its anti-
anti-knock
value has arbitrarily been given zero.
Isooctane (2, 2, 4-
4-trimethyl pentane) gives very little
knocking , so its anti-
anti-knock value has been fixed as 100
 Octane number or rating
Octane number is equal to the percentage by volume of iso-octane
(2,2,4-trimethyl pentane) in a mixture of n-heptane and iso-
octane having the same knocking tendency compared to the sample
of gasoline being tested;

H H H H H H H
CH 3

H C C C C C C C H CH CH 3
CH 3 C CH 2
H H H H H H H
CH 3 CH 3
n-heptane
Isooctane

The fuel which has same knocking tendency with the mixture
having 80% iso-octance has octane number 80.
 Improvement of anti-knock characteristics of a fuel
The octane number of poor fuels can be raised by the addition of tetra ethyl
lead (C2H5)4Pb or TEL and diethyl telluride (C2H5)2Te. In motor spirit
(Motor fuel) about 0.5ml and in aviation fuel 1.0 - 1.5ml of TEL is added per
litre of petrol.

TEL is converted into a cloud of finely divided lead and lead oxide (litharge)
particles in the cylinder and these particles react with any hydrocarbon
peroxide molecules formed, thereby slowing down the chain oxidation
reaction and thus decreasing the chances of any early detonation.

However deposit of lead oxide is harmful to the engine life. In order to help
the simultaneous elimination of lead oxide formed from the engine, a small
amount of ethylene dibromide (or ethylene dichloride) is also added to
petrol.

The added ethylene dibromide removes lead oxide as volatile lead bromide
along with the exhaust gases. The presence of sulfur compounds in petrol
reduces the effectiveness of the TEL. TEL is more effective on saturated
hydrocarbons than on unsaturated ones.
Alternative methods

Addition of high octane compounds like isopentane, isooctane, ethyl

benzene, isoprpopyl benzene, methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE)

Other additives
Oxidation inhibitors - 2,4 - ditertiary butyl - 4 - methyl
phenol.

Rust inhibitors - Organic compounds of phosphorus or

antimony.

Ignition control additives - tricresyl phosphate which

suppresses pre-
pre-ignition of the fuel due to glowing deposits
on spark plug or a hot spot on the cylinder wall.
 Diesel Engine Fuels
Characteristics of an ideal diesel oil

It should have low spontaneous ignition

temperature.
It should have very little sulphur, aromatic
and ash content.
The ignition lag should be as short as
possible.
 Knocking
In a diesel engine, the fuel is exploded not by a spark, but by the
application of heat and pressure. In the cycle of operations of a diesel
engine, air is first drawn into the cylinder and compressed.

Towards the end of the compression stroke, the fuel (diesel oil) is
injected as a finely-divided spray into air in the cylinder heated to about
500C by compression.

The oil absorbs the heat from the air and if it attains its ignition
temperature the oil ignites spontaneously. The pressure of the gases is
further increased by the heat accompanying the ignition of the oil.

The piston is pushed by the expanding gases and this constitutes the
power stroke.

Fuel feed and ignition continue during this down stroke. The fuel injection
stops at the exhaust stroke.
 The combustion of fuel in a diesel engine is not instantaneous and the
interval between the start of fuel injection and its ignition is called the
'ignition delay' and is an important quality of the diesel fuel.
This delay is due to the time taken for the vaporization of the individual
droplets and raising of the vapour to its ignition temperature.
It depends on the engine design, efficiency of mixing of the spray and air,
the injector design and mostly on the chemical nature of the fuel.
The ignition delay is shorter for paraffinic fuels than for olefinic,
naphthenic and aromatic fuels. Fuels with low carbon residue are
desirable.
Long ignition delays lead to fuel accumulation in the engine even before
the ignition and when ignited, an explosion results as the combined effect
of increased temperature and pressure. This is responsible for the diesel
knock.
The diesel fuel should have a spontaneous ignition temperature less than
the temperature produced by compression.
 Diesel engine fuels consist of longer chain
hydrocarbons than internal combustion engine fuels.

The main characteristic of diesel engine fuel is that

it should easily ignite below compression temperature.

There should be as short an induction lag as possible.

This means that it is essential that the hydrocarbon
molecules in a diesel fuel should be as far as possible
the straight-chain ones with a minimum admixture of
aromatic and side-chain hydrocarbon molecules.
The suitability of a diesel fuel is determined by its cetane value,
which is the percentage of hexadecane in a mixture of hexadecane and 2-
methyl naphthalene, which has the same ignition characteristics as the
diesel fuel sample, under the same set of conditions.

The cetane number of a diesel fuel can be raised by the addition of small
quantity of certain "pre-ignition dopes" like alkyl nitrites such as ethyl
nitrite, iso-amyl nitrite, acetone peroxide.

H H H
CH3
H C C C H

H H H
14

n-hexadecane (cetane No.=100) 2-Methyl naphthalene (cetane No.=0)

Diesel - A fraction obtained between 250 300 C during the
fractional distillation of crude petroleum which contains (85% C and
12% H). Its calorific value is 11,000 Kcal/kg

Ignition quality decreases among

hydrocarbons is as follows
n-alkanes > naphthalenes > alkenes >
branched alkanes > aromatics

Cetane number decreases

Ignition quality decreases
Ignition delay increases
 Diesel - Index
On API (American petroleum Institute) scale, the
quality of a diesel fuel is, sometimes, indicated by
diesel-index number which is
Specific gravity (API) Aniline Point (F)
D. I= -----------------------------------------
100
The higher the diesel-index number the better is
the diesel fuel. D. I. = Cetane number + 3.
 Aniline Point
This is an approximate measure of the aromatic content of a
hydrocarbon fuel.
It is defined as the lowest temperature at which a fuel oil is
completely miscible with an equal volume of aniline.
Aniline is an aromatic compound and aromatics are more
miscible in aniline than are paraffins.
Hence, the lower the aniline point, the higher the aromatics
content in the fuel oil.
The higher the aromatics content, the lower the cetane
number of the fuel.
The aniline point can thus be used to indicate the probable
ignition behavior of a diesel fuel.
High- Speed Diesel The time lag in getting the
diesel droplets heated to
ignition point is very brief, about
1/500th of a second

Diesel with cetane no. above 45

(up to 60)

Medium- Speed Diesel Diesel with cetane no. of ~35

Low- Speed Diesel Diesel with cetane no. of ~25

 Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) or Bottled
Gas or Refinery Gas
It is obtained as a by-product during the cracking of heavy oils or
from natural gas.

LPG is dehydrated desulphurised and traces of odorous organic

sulphides (mercaptans) are added to give warning of gas leak.

Consists of volatile hydrocarbons exist as a gas under atmospheric

pressure but can be readily liquefied under pressure.

Calorific value - 27,800 k.cal/m3

Composition - n-butane, iso-butane, butylene and propane with little

or no propylene and ethane.
Uses - Domestic, Industrial fuel, Motor fuel.
Advantages of LPG
1. High efficiency and heating rate. The calorific value is ~3 times
times than
that of natural gas and 7 times that of coal gas
2. Needs little care for maintanence
3. Portability in steel cylinder/containers
4. Comparatively less health hazard, even in the case of leakage

Disadvantages of LPG

1. Due to its faint odour, leakage can

cant be detected
2. Handling has to be done under pressure
3. Octane number is low
 Natural Gas
Natural gas is generally associated with petroleum deposits and is obtained
from wells dug in the oil-bearing regions

Lean or dry gas - A natural gas containing mainly methane but not higher
hydrocarbons

Rich or wet gas - A natural gas containing appreciable amounts of propane,

butane and other liquid hydrocarbons like pentane, hexane etc.

Harmful H2S gas if present in natural gas, is removed by scrubbing with

monoethanolamine

H2 H2
2 C NH2 + H S C NH2 H S
HO C 2 HO C 2
H2 H2 2

On heating, H2S will be liberated

 Natural Gas
Calorific value-
value- 12,000 - 14,000 k.cal/m3

Composition - CH4 = 70 - 90%

C2H6 = 5 - 10%
H2 = 3%
CO + CO2 = rest

Uses
It is an excellent domestic fuel, used in manufacture of a
number of chemicals by synthetic processes.
It is the raw material for the manufacture of carbon black
and hydrogen (used in ammonia synthesis).
Synthetic proteins have been obtained by microbiological
fermentation of methane.
 Compressed Natural Gas

A natural gas (mostly methane) compressed to a high pressure

of about 1,000 atmospheres

A steel cylinder containing 15 kg of CNG contains about 2 104

L or 20 m3 of natural gas at 1 atmospheric pressure

Used as a substitute for petrol and diesel as it causes less

pollution

No sulphur and nitrogen gases are evolved

No carbon particles are produced

Initial cost for the CNG engine is higher than the petrol/diesel
engines
Advantages of CNG
Much safer fuel because it ignites at higher temperatures than
gasoline and diesel

Conversion of gasoline operated automobile in to CNG operated

vehicle is easy

Operating cost is lower than gasoline

Lesser CO emission

Mixing with air is better than liquid fuels

No unregulated i.e. SO2, SO3, C6H6, HCHO

 Biogas
Produced by the degradation of biological matter by bacterial action (of
anaerobic bacteria) in the absence of free oxygen

Aquatic plants, organic wastes from domestic, agricultural and industrial

sectors with high B.O.D. value (Feed stock) are digested anaerobically
to produce biogas.

The biogas is totally used as fuel. The chief constituent of biogas is

methane, so the process is also called biomethanation.

Composition of biogas is given below:

Component Volume (%) - CH4 52-95; CO2 9-45; H2S 0.001-2; H2 0.01-2;
N2 0.1-4; O2 0.02-6.5; CO 0.001; NH3 Small
 Biogas
Conditions for Biomethanation
Temperature = 35
pH = 6.8-8.2
Anaerobic condition.
Trace elements = Na+, Co+3, Ni+2 etc.
Feed stock is mainly cowdung.
 Biodiesel
What is bio-diesel?
Biodiesel refers to any
diesel-equivalent Biofuel
made from renewable
biological materials such as
vegetable oils (Vegetable Oil)
or animal fats (Animal Fats)

While there are numerous interpretations being applied to the term

biodiesel, the term Biodiesel usually refers to an ester, or an oxygenate,
made from the oil and methanol (in other words, the name biodiesel can
be applied to any trans esterified vegetable oil that makes it suitable for
use as a diesel fuel).
What is Biodiesel?
Alternative fuel for diesel engines
Made from vegetable oil or animal fat
Meets health effect testing (CAA)
Lower emissions, High flash point (>300F), Safer
Biodegradable, Essentially non-toxic.
Chemically, biodiesel molecules are mono-alkyl esters
produced usually from triglyceride esters
Fatty Acid
FA Alcohol
Glycerin

FA FA
FA Biodiesel
Vegetable Oil
 Transesterification
The Transesterification process is the
reaction of a triglyceride (fat/oil) with an
alcohol to form esters and glycerol. A
triglyceride has a glycerine molecule as its
base with three long chain fatty acids
attached.
 Transesterification
While actually a multi-step process, the overall reaction
looks like this:

CH2OOR1 catalyst CH2OH

|  |
CHOOR2 + 3CH3OH  3CH3OORx + CHOH
| |
CH2OOR3 CH2OH
Triglyceride 3 Methanols Biodiesel Glycerin

R1, R2, and R3 are fatty acid alkyl groups (could be different,
or the same), and depend on the type of oil. The fatty acids
involved determine the final properties of the biodiesel
(cetane number, cold flow properties, etc.)
 It is usually produced by a Trans esterification
and esterification reaction of vegetable or waste
oil respectively with a low molecular weight
alcohol, such as Ethanol and methanol.

During this process, the triglyceride molecule

from vegetable oil is removed in the form of
glycerin (soap). Once the glycerin is removed from
the oil, the remaining molecules will form bio
diesel.
While the petroleum and other fossil fuels contain
sulfur, ring molecules & aromatics, the biodiesel
molecules are very simple hydrocarbon chains,
containing no sulfur, ring molecules or aromatics.

Biodiesel is thus essentially free of sulfur and

aromatics. Biodiesel is made up of almost 10%
oxygen, making it a naturally "oxygenated" fuel.
What is Biodiesel?
Alternative fuel for diesel engines
Made from vegetable oil or animal fat
Meets health effect testing (CAA)
Lower emissions, High flash point (>300F), Safer
Biodegradable, Essentially non-toxic.
Chemically, biodiesel molecules are mono-alkyl esters
produced usually from triglyceride esters
 Transesterification
While actually a multi-step process, the overall reaction
looks like this:

CH2OOR1 catalyst CH2OH

|  |
CHOOR2 + 3CH3OH  3CH3OORx + CHOH
| |
CH2OOR3 CH2OH
Triglyceride 3 Methanols Biodiesel Glycerin

R1, R2, and R3 are fatty acid alkyl groups (could be different,
or the same), and depend on the type of oil. The fatty acids
involved determine the final properties of the biodiesel
(cetane number, cold flow properties, etc.)
 Benefits of Biodiesel
Biodiesel has many environmentally
beneficial properties. The main benefit of
biodiesel is that it can be described as
carbon neutral. This means that the fuel
produces no net output of carbon in the form
of carbon dioxide (CO2). This effect occurs
because when the oil crop grows it absorbs
the same amount of CO2 as is released when
the fuel is combusted.