What is Biodiesel?• Alternative fuel for diesel engines• Made from vegetable oil or animal

fat • Lower emissions• Easy biodegradable• Lower toxicity

What is Biodiesel?Chemically, biodiesel molecules are:

mono-alkyl esters produced usually from triglyceride esters

Fatty AcidAlcoholGlycerin

Vegetable Oil

BiodieselFA

FAFA

FA

Biodiesel can be used in existing Diesel Engines• Blended with petroleum diesel (B20, B10, BXX)• Little or no engine modifications

Relative Greenhouse Gas Emissions

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160

Gasoline

CNG

LPG

Diesel

Ethanol 85%

B20

Diesel Hybrid

Electric

B100

Data from “A Fresh Look at CNG: A Comparison of Alternative Fuels”, Alternative Fuel Vehicle Program, 8/13/2001

B100 = 100% BiodieselB20 = 20% BD + 80% PD

Environmental Issues• Burning fossil fuels increases atmospheric levels of

carbon dioxide• Fossil fuels are a

finite resource

Graph taken from USF Oceanography webpage

Biodiesel’s Closed Carbon Cycle

30% Increase

** B100 (100% biodiesel) with NOx adsorbing catalyst on vehicle

Relative emissions: Diesel and Biodiesel

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Total Unburned HCs

CO

Particulate Matter

**NOx

Sulfates

PAHs

n-PAHs

Mutagenicity

CO2

Percent

B100 **B20Diesel

Biodiesel Samples

Chemistry of Triglycerides• Biodiesel is made from the combination of a triglyceride

with a monohydroxy alcohol (i.e. methanol, ethanol…). • What is a triglyceride? Made from a combination of

glycerol and three fatty acids:

TransesterificationWhile actually a multi-step process, the overall

reaction looks like this:

CH2OOR1 catalyst CH2OH| |CHOOR2 + 3CH3OH 3CH3OORx + CHOH| |CH2OOR3 CH2OHTriglyceride 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.)

After Glycerin removal, biodiesel now just needs to be cleaned/purified before use:

Research at LUAEnvironment friendly biofuel (biodiesel) production technologies:• Biodiesel production using vegetable oil and fatty wastes of animal origin (new raw materials)

• Transesterification with methanol, ethanol, propanol, butanol using chemical and biochemical catalysis (enzymes)

• Biodiesel properties: improving quality parameters (CFFP, biodegradability, cetane number)

Research at LUA• Utilization of biodiesel production wastes

(glycerol, fatty acids, rapeseed cake or meal)

• Production of biolubricants and improvement of their properties

• Evaluation of biodiesel fuel impact on the environment (analysis of exhaust emissions, fuel biological degradation)

• Life Cycle Analysis of biodiesel fuel• Harvesting of ALGAE, oil extraction and

production of biofuels

Research at LUA• Usage of technical-grade glycerol for the

production of liquid fuel and assessment of the operational and environmental properties

• Usage of rapeseed cake and technical-grade glycerol for the production of biocomposites and assessment of their exploitational and environmental properties (biodegradability)

Thank you for attention