Research and Development Trends in Biodiesel

✍ Scribed by Rudolph, V. ;He, Y.

• Publisher: Curtin University of Technology
• Year: 2008
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 633 KB
• Volume: 12
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0969-1855
• DOI: 10.1002/apj.5500120503

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Biodiesel, a derivative from plant oils or animal fats, has gained widespread acceptance in recent years as a sustainable alternative fuel to petroleum diesel due to its environmental benefits and renewability. Although there are several different ways in which biodiesel can be used or formulated as a fuel such as direct blending, microemulsions and thermal cracking, the most widespread remains the alkyl esters of fatty acids obtained through transesterification of the oils or fats. In transesterification, triglycerides which are the main chemical in oils or fats are converted into esters through reaction with simple alcohols. The physical and chemical properties of the esters thus obtained are very similar to those of the petroleum diesel.

This paper reviews the current technologies available for the transesterifications of vegetable oils and animal fats and identifies that the biggest factor deterring a greater market uptake of biodiesel is its cost. It concludes that, in addition to government policy framework, e.g. to reduce the pump price of biodiesel through fuel tax exemption, further technological development presents significant scope for improvement. At present, there are no suitable and developed transesterification technologies that can handle cheap, low‐quality feedstocks including waste animal fats and spent cooking oils. These feedstocks contain high percentages of water and free fatty acids which are extremely detrimental to the yield and reaction rates of the transesterification processes. This paper also suggests some future research and development directions and requirements for more competitive biodiesel production.