Triglycerides-based diesel fuels

✍ Scribed by Anjana Srivastava; Ram Prasad

• Book ID: 108494733
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 221 KB
• Volume: 4
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1364-0321
• DOI: 10.1016/s1364-0321(99)00013-1

✦ Synopsis

Eorts are under way in many countries, including India, to search for suitable alternative diesel fuels that are environment friendly. The need to search for these fuels arises mainly from the standpoint of preserving the global environment and the concern about long-term supplies of conventional hydrocarbon-based diesel fuels. Among the dierent possible sources, diesel fuels derived from triglycerides (vegetable oils/animal fats) present a promising alternative to substitute diesel fuels. Although triglycerides can fuel diesel engines, their high viscosities, low volatilities and poor cold ¯ow properties have led to the investigation of various derivatives. Fatty acid methyl esters, known as biodiesel, derived from triglycerides by transesteri®cation with methanol have received the most attention. The main advantages of using biodiesel are its renewability, better-quality exhaust gas emissions, its biodegradability and given that all the organic carbon present is photosynthetic in origin, it does not contribute to a rise in the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and consequently to the greenhouse eect.