BIODIESEL :

AN ALTERNATE FUEL

K.Madhusoodanan
Energy Technologist
Energy Management Centre
Thiruvananthapuram
 What are Biofuels ?

Renewable fuels from bio sources

Include
– Ethanol
– Biodiesel
– Bio-hydrogen
– Biogases
 WHY BIOFUELS?
• SUSTAINABILITY

• POLLUTION THREAT

• REDUCTION OF GREEN HOUSE GAS EMISSIONS

• REGIONAL (RURAL) DEVELOPMENT

• SOCIAL STRUCTURE & AGRICULTURE

• SECURITY OF SUPPLY
 FIRST USE OF PEANUT OIL IN
1895 BY DR RUDOLF DIESEL

• “The use of vegetable oils for engine fuels may

seem insignificant today. But such oils may
become in course of time as important as
petroleum and the coal tar products of the present
time."
WORLD EXPERIENCE ON
BIODIESEL
 BIODIESEL IN EUROPE

•Biodiesel has been produced on an industrial scale in EU

since 1992, largely in response to positive signals from the EU
institutions.
•In 2001, it is estimated that some twenty plants produced
around 1 million tonnes, mainly in
•Austria,
•Belgium,
•France,
•Germany,
•Italy,
•Sweden.
 US Lead – A Senate Report

Analyze the agricultural sector and macroeconomic impacts of

the Hagel-Johnson renewable energy bill (S.1006)

Requires a minimum percentage of motor vehicle fuel sold in the

U.S. must be renewable fuel.

0.8% in 2002 to 5% by 2012

Renewable fuels are biodiesel, ethanol or other fuel produced
from biomass and biogas.
 Biodiesel Production

1,000
900
800
700
600
Mil gal

500
400
300
200
100
0
2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015

Soybeans Other Oils

 BIODIESEL vs OTHER ALTERNATE FUELS

DIESEL CNG LNG METHANOL ETHANOL BIODIESEL

___________________________________________________________________________
Vehicle cost 10 5 5 5 5 10
Infrastructure 10 2 5 5 5 10
Safety 7 4 3 1 3 8
Operating range 10 5 10 10 10 10
Operating cost 10 5 7 5 5 7
Reliability 10 7 5 3 3 10
Customer
acceptance 5 8 8 8 9 8
Funding
assistance 1 10 2 0 2 2
Training cost 10 5 5 5 5 10
Fuel availability 10 10 5 5 5 6
Fuel quality 9 5 10 8 8 9
Fuel price
stability 6 8 8 6 6 6

TOTAL 98 74 73 61 66 96 __
 WHAT IS BIODIESEL ?
Biodiesel is vegetable oil processed to
resemble Diesel Fuel

•High Cetane Number

•High lubricity
•Comparable BTU content
•Readily mixes with diese
•Ready to use in diesel run engines
IMPORTANCE OF BIODIESEL
• Environment friendly
• Clean burning
• Renewable fuel
• No engine modification
• Increase in engine life
• Biodegradable and non-toxic
• Easy to handle and store
 BIODIESEL
• Made by chemically combining any natural oil or fat
with an alcohol

• Most of the oils, edible & non-edible are suitable

• Selection of feed stock based on

* Availability
* Price
* Policy
• France,Germany & Italy currently the leaders
 RAW MATERIALS
• Rapeseed, the major source (>80%)

• Sunflower oil (10%, Italy and Southern France)

• Soybean oil (USA & Brazil)

• Palm oil (Malaysia)

• Linseed, olive oils (Spain)

• Cottonseed oil (Greece)

• Beef tallow (Ireland), lard, used frying oil (Austria), Jatropha (Nicaragua &
South Americas), Guang-Pi (China)
 BIODIESEL-Why Lower Emissions ?

• Biodiesel has high cetane Number

• In built Oxygen content
• Burns fully
• Has no Sulphur
• No Aromatics
• Complete CO2 cycle
 Emissions Reductions
B20 emissions reductions compared to petroleum
diesel:
– Carbon monoxide -20%
– Unburned hydrocarbons -30%
– Particulate matter -22%
– Sulfates -20%
– NPAH -50%
– Mutagenicity -20%
 PETRO-DIESEL CO2 CYCLE
13 pounds of fossil CO2 released per gallon burned

Fossil CO2
Release to Atmosphere

Refining

Use in Cars and Trucks

Exploration
 BIODIESEL CO2 CYCLE
No fossil CO2 Released ; No global warming

Renewable CO2

Oil Crops Use in Cars and Trucks

Biodiesel Production
 LUBRICITY-Major Benefit
LONG TERM ENGINE WEAR EXTENSIVELY STUDIED IN EUROPE & THE US

EXXON STUDY
B20 PROVIDE, SIGNIFICANT, QUANTIFIABLE IMPROVEMENTS IN WEAR
FILM FORMING ABILITY – 93% FILM (B20); 32% FILM (DIESEL)

EPA RULE (JAN. 2001) TO BRING DOWN SULFUR CONTENT IN DIESEL

FROM 500 ppm TO 15 ppm BY 2006
“LUBRICITY TEST HAVE SHOWN THAT UPTO 2% OF BIODIESEL IS
ENOUGH TO MAKE ANY DISTILLATE FUEL FULLY LUBRICIOUS”;
 FUEL CONSUMPTION
• Biodiesel contains ~10% oxygen

• Brake-specific fuel consumption figures

– Petrodiesel 0.43 lb/HP-hr
– B20 0.44 “

– B100 0.50 “
 BIODIESEL IS REALITY NOW
• Large number of surveys done
• Variety of feed stocks tested
• Transesterification developed on commercial scale
• Biodiesel specs. By ASTM & others
• About 40 million mile testing
• Approval by autoManufacturers
• Tax structure in place in several countries
• Future projections firmed up
• Legalisations in place in many countries

• INDIA HAS TROPICAL ADVANTAGE

• ENORMOUS WASTE LANDS & CHEAP FARM LABOUR
• BIODIESEL IN INDIA CAN BE SUCCESS STORY
 BIODIESEL AND ECONOMY
• An increase of $1 per barrel of crude oil prices adds $425 million to our oil
import bill

• Oil import constitutes a major part of our trade deficit and has an
enormous impact on our economy and creation of new jobs

• The US dept of Energy estimates that each $billion of trade deficit costs
the US 27,000 jobs

• Developing a strong market for biodiesel would have tremendous

economic benefits

• Investments in biodiesel technology may ensure that we have

transportation fuel options and we will not be so vulnerable
 THE INDIAN SCENE

• Annual growth rate ~6% compared to world average of 2%

• Oil pool deficit & Subsidies Rs 16,000 crores , Rs 18,440 crores (1996-97)

• Current per capita usage of petroleum is absymmaly low (0.1 ton/year)

against 4.0 in Germany or 1.5 tons in Malaysia

• Even Malaysia’s figure would be beyond our paying capacity

• Our domestic production would meet only 33% of demand at the end of
10th plan and only 27% by 2010-11

• INVESTMENT IN BIOFUELS MAKE STRONG ECONOMIC SENSE

 CAN BIODIESEL WORK IN
INDIA?
• India with just 2.4% of global area supports more than 16% of the human
population and 17% of the cattle population

• India is one of the largest importers of edible oil

• Where do we find the oil for biodiesel?

• A sustainable source of vegetable oil is to be found before we can think of

biodiesel
 JATROPHA MAY BE THE ANSWER?

• According to the Economic Survey (1995-96), Govt of India, of the

cultivable land area about 100-150 million hectares are classified as waste
or degraded land
• Jatropha (Jatropha curcas, Ratanjyot, wild castor) thrives on any type of
soil
– Needs minimal inputs or management
– Has no insect ,pests& not browsed by cattle or sheep
– Can survive long periods of drought
– Propagation is easy
– Yield from the 3rd year onwards and continues for 25-30 years
– 25% oil from seeds by expelling; 30% by solvent extraction
– The meal after extraction an excellent organic manure (38% protein, N:P:K ratio
2.7:1.2:1)
 Jatropha Plantation
Study by Agro-Forestry Federation – Maharashtra (1991)

• Jatropha is a hardy plant.

• Well adopted to arid, semi-arid conditions.
• Low fertility and moisture demand.
• Grow on stony, shallow or even calcareous
soil.
• Propagated through seed or cuttings.
• Tolerate to scanty to heavy rainfall.
 BIODIESEL FROM JATROPHA
• IF
– 10 MILLION HECATRES OF WASTE LAND IS BROUGHT
UNDER JATROPHA CULTIVATION
– Can yield 15 million tons of seed (@1.5 Tons / Hectare )
– 4.0 million tons of oil
– An equivalent amount of biodiesel, almost one tenth
requirement of diesel in the country
– Enormous employment generation potential in rural areas
• If only 1 person/family is employed per 5 hectares for
jatropha cultivation, additional 2 million new jobs
• 200 new extraction units of 250 tpd capacity to crush the
seeds
– 11 Million tons of excellent organic manure
– 0.4 million tons of technical grade glycerol
 Effect on Rural Economy
• Seed price Rs. 4/Kg.
• Seed yield 3000Kg / hectare.
• 5 hectare plantation / family.
• 60,000 Rs / year income.
Additionally :
• Waste lands converted to productive national assets.
• Creation of jobs in downstream processing.
• GAINFUL employment in rural sector.
• Contribution to national energy pool.
 BIODIESEL
Purchase Policy & Specifications
 Biodiesel Purchase Policy
• MoPN&G declared Biodiesel Purchase
Policy on 9th Oct. 2005
• Effective from 1.1.2006
• Emphasis on
– Standard Quality (as per BIS Spec)
– Uniform Price (Rs. 25 / Litre)
– Setting up of 20 Purchase Centres by Oil PSUs
– Assured Market to Farmers & Entrepreneurs
Biodiesel Purchase Centres
• Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand & Orissa –
Ghatkesar, AP (HPC)
• Chattisgarh – Mandirhasaud (HPC)
• Delhi – Bijwasan (IOC)
• Gujarat – Kandla (BPC)
• Haryana – Rewari (IOC)
• Karnataka – Devanagunthi, Bangalore
(IOC) & Mangalore (IOC)
 Biodiesel Purchase Centres
• Madhya Pradesh – Mangliagaon,Indore, (IOC)
• Maharashtra – Manmad (BPC); Nagpur (BPC); Loni
(HPC) & Vashi (HPC)
• Punjab – Bhatinda (IOC)
• Rajasthan – Jaipur (BPC); Salawas (HPC)
• Tamilnadu – Chennai (IOC); Narimanam (IBP) & Karur
(BPC)
• UP & Uttaranchal – Panki (IOC) & Amousi (IBP)
 Biodiesel Purchase Policy
• Biodiesel manufacturers to approach State Level
Coordinators (SLC) for registration as supplier
• SLC to assess the production capacity and
credibility of the supplier and quality of the
product
• Registration valid for one year and renewable on
change of manufacturing process or raw material
• Priority to be given to producers using non-edible
tree borne seed oils and supporting farmers in this
context
 Biodiesel Quality Checks
• Product to meet all specifications prescribed in
PCD3(2242)C Draft BIS Specifications dated
26.7.2004
• Industry Manual on Operations, Quality & Safety
for Biodiesel to be made available by OMCs to
Biodiesel Manufacturers
• Every consignment to meet the specifications for
six critical tests
• Testing charges at oil terminals to be borne by
OMCs
 Critical Biodiesel Tests
• Density @ 15oC
• Kinematic Viscosity @ 40oC
• Flash Point
• Water Content
• Copper Corrosion
• Acid Value

• Delivery in tank trucks of capacity not less than 10 KL

• Every consignment to be tested for above parameters
 Other Salient Proposals of
Biodiesel Purchase Policy

• R&D studies and field trials to be continued to achieve

20% Biodiesel blending and to be coordinated by IOC
R&D
• Progress of the implementation of the Biodiesel
Purchase Policy by OMCs to be monitored by
Petroleum Policy and Analysis Cell (PPAC) and report
the progress to MoP&NG on regular basis
 Conclusions

• Biodiesel to be free from residual Vegetable Oil,

FFA, gums, water, catalyst, methanol and glycerine
• To achieve 20% Biodiesel Blending – India needs
> 10 MMT of Biodiesel
• That requires Jatropha plantation on approx. 10
million hectares
• Leading to creation of millions of jobs and
substantial reduction in pollution level
Thank You