Biodiesel Production

By

Nubuor Richmond Nii Addotey

&

Howels Samuel
Content Layout
• ABSTRACT • BENEFIT OF BIODIESEL TO
GHANA
• INTRODUCTION
• Biodiesel
• CONCLUSION
• History and Origin
• Production capacity • REFERENCES
• Current production rate
• MATERIAL & METHODS
• Raw materials for production
• General production methods
• Block flow diagram for production

• USES & APPLICATION OF

BIODIESEL

• ENVIRONMENTAL
CORNCERNS
 ABSTRACT

 Where does our energy come from?

 85% from fossil fuels

• coal, crude oil products, natural gas

 15% renewable fuels

• hydro power, solar, biomass, biofuels World primary energy production in 2009 by source [1].

 5% nuclear

3
 ENERGY USES

 What do we use energy for?

 Agricultural activities

 Domestic activities

 Industrial activities

 Transportation
Dominating Fuel

 Two fuels dominate the transportation fuel market:

 Diesel
• Biodiesel can be used to supplement or replace diesel fuel

 Gasoline

5
INTRODUCTION
 INTRODUCTION

• What is biodiesel?

7
What is biodiesel? …

• Biodiesel is a renewable fuel made from any biologically based oil, and can be used to
power any diesel engine. Chemically, biodiesel is a fuel composed of mono-alkyl ester
of long chain fatty acids derived from vegetable oils or animal fats

• It is made through a simple chemical process that converts vegetable oil into diesel
through a process called transesterification.

• As an environmentally friendly alternative to petroleum diesel, biodiesel is in use

throughout the world.

• Biodiesel is made commercially from soybeans and other oilseeds in an industrial

process, but it is also commonly made in homes, shops and from waste oil.
Biodiesel Background
• Four main production • Transesterification
methods • Most common production method
• Direct use and blending • Uses vegetable oils and animal fats as
• Micro emulsions feed stocks
• Thermal cracking • The reaction of a fat or oil with an
• Transesterification alcohol to form esters (biodiesel) and
glycerol
 HISTORY OF BIODIESEL
Dr. Rudolf Diesel, a German engineer who first demonstrated his
diesel engine to the world running on peanut oil in the early
1900’s.

As early as the 1930s, there was interest in splitting the fatty acids from
the glycerin in vegetable oil in order to create a thinner product similar to
petroleum diesel. .

In 1937, G. Chavanne was granted a Belgian patent for an ethyl ester of

palm oil (which today we would call biodiesel).

In 1938, a passenger bus fueled with palm oil ethyl ester plied the route
between Brussels and Louvain[2].

During World War II (1939 to 1945), when petroleum fuel supplies were
interrupted, vegetable oil was used as fuel by several countries, including
Brazil, Argentina, China, India, and Japan.
However, when the war ended and petroleum supplies were again cheap
and plentiful, vegetable oil fuel was forgotten.[3] 10
 MODERN INTEREST IN BIODIESEL

• The word “biodiesel” was first used in about 1984[4]

• The first biodiesel manufacturing plant specifically designed to produce fuel was
started in 1985 at an agricultural college in Austria. Since 1992, biodiesel has been
commercially manufactured across Europe, with Germany being the largest producer.

• In the United States, biodiesel was first manufactured commercially in 1991 in

Kansas City, Missouri. In 1995, the University of Idaho provided biodiesel to
Yellowstone National Park, which used the fuel in a truck that has been driven
several hundred thousand miles without damage to the engine and is still in use. [4,5]
 GROWTH OF BIODIESEL PRODUCTION

• Production of biodiesel grew rapidly.

• By 2004, there were 25 biodiesel plants in the United States, and by
2009, the National Biodiesel Board listed over 200 manufacturers on its
Web site.
• Worldwide, biodiesel production grew from about 1 billion liters in
2001 to 6 billion liters in 2006.[4,5,6]
• The United States and Brazil were among the largest biodiesel producers
in the world, totaling some six and 4.3 billion liters, respectively, in
2017
MATERIALS & METHODS
Materials & method…

 Sample Recipe
 Waste Vegetable Oil 100 Parts
 Alcohol (methanol) 10 to 20 Parts
 Sulfuric acid 10 to 20 Parts
 Catalyst(KOH) 0.5 to 3 Parts

.
Biodiesel Process
 Basic Overview
 Inputs: Oil, Alcohol + Sulfuric acid & Catalyst
 Outputs: Biodiesel & Crude Glycerin
Flow Chart for Biodiesel Production
Biodiesel Process

 Outputs

 Biodiesel 100 Parts

 Crude Glycerin10-20 Parts
Final Products
 Biodiesel
On-Farm Use
• Blend Fuels
• Diesel Engines
• Vehicle Modifications
 May need to replace natural rubber fuel lines and
gaskets

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Final Products
 Crude Glycerin
 No Ready Market for Crude Glycerin
 Quantity produced is 10% to 20% of biodiesel
production
 Contains Methanol & Catalyst
 Possible Uses:
• Compost
• Fuel Oil
• Refine to Pharmaceutical Grade Glycerin

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ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

?
ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS…

Fuel made from waste vegetable oil has the following benefits when
compared to petroleum diesel:
• Using a waste product as an energy source i.e waste reduction
• Cleaner burning: lower in soot, particulate matter, carbon monoxide,
and carcinogens, hence environmentally friendly
• Lower in sulfur compounds: does not contribute to acid rain, hence
keep the soil fertile for agricultural activities.
• Significant carbon dioxide reductions: less impact on global climate
change.
• Domestically available: over 30 million gallons of waste oil are
produced annually in Ghana
BENEFIT OF BIODIESEL TO GHANA

?
Benefit of biodiesel to Ghana …

• Biodiesel offers an incomparable economic incentive as it can be

readily mixed with diesel fuel in any proportion, thereby reducing
the cost of diesel purchase.
• Reduction in dependence on fossil-based oil.
• the potential to replace fossil-based fuels and contribute to the
mitigation of GHG emissions [7]
Government Involvement:
Regulations, Incentives &
Policies
Policy
 What agency is responsible for biofuel
policy?
 A) Energy
 B) Agriculture
 C) Commerce
 D) Environmental Protection
 E) Transportation
 Answer: All of the above

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Energy Policies
• 20% of national gasoline consumption
replaced with biodiesel by 2015…?

• 30% of national kerosene consumption

replaced with jetropha oil by 2015…?

• Removal of institutional barriers…?

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STRATEGIC NATIONAL ENERGY POLICY
• 10% penetration of liquid fuels by renewable and
alternative fuel by 2015 expanding to reach 20% in
2020

• To become self-sufficient in petroleum products and

not exporter by 2020
Biodiesel Economics
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• There is ample room for improvement in the efficiency of processing
biodiesel

• Development of a continuous transesterification process

• Recovery of high quality glycerol

CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION…

• Fossil fuel resources are decreasing daily. As a renewable energy, biodiesel has
been receiving increasing attention because of the relevance it gains from the
rising petroleum price and its environmental advantages.

• Materials that are needed for the production of biodiesel is easily sourced and are
in abundance.

• Biodiesel is a renewable energy because the raw materials used for production are
not finite but in constant supply.

• It is a substantial step towards creation and diversification of energy sources

therefore addressing the urgent and conflicting issues of rising energy demand and
global warming
 REFERENCES

[1] Dunn RO. Alternative jet fuels from vegetable oils. Trans ASAE 2001;44– 6:1751–7.

[2] Knothe, Gerhard (2005). The History of Vegetable Oil-Based Diesel Fuels. In Knothe, Krahl, and Van Gerpen (Eds.), The
Biodiesel Handbook. Champaign, IL: AOCS Press.

[3] Pahl, Greg (2005). Biodiesel: Growing a New Energy Economy. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing Company.

[4] Van Gerpen, Jon H., Charles L. Peterson, and Carroll Goering (2007). Biodiesel: An Alternative Fuel for Compression Ignition
Engines.St. Joseph, MI: ASABE.

[5] Worldwatch Institute (2007). Biofuels for Transport: Global Potential and Implications for Sustainable Energy and
Agriculture. London: Earthscan.

[6] Yan J, Alvfors P, Eidensten L, Svedberg G. A future for biomass. Mech Eng 1997;119:94–6.

[7] Wahlund B, Yan J, Westermark M. Increasing biomass utilisation inregional energy systems: a comparative study of CO 2
reduction and cost for different bioenergy processing options. Biomass Bioenergy 2004;26:531–44
THANK YOU