Can You Run Your Car On Biodiesel

Before filling your tank with biodiesel, vegetable oil, or any other biofuel, it is essential to find out whether your car is compatible. Mistakes can be very expensive to rectify - at best your car won't run, at worst you could destroy your engine!The first thing to consider is the fuel your car currently uses.

you car runs on petrol then you do not need to read any further. biodiesel is not a suitable fuel for spark ignition engines and considerable damage is likely to occur if you attempt to run your car on biodiesel.

The green alternative to petrol is Ethanol usually mixed with standard fossil fuel petroleum.

Biodiesel Vegetable Oil
The term biodiesel if often used with reference to true biodiesel, straight vegetable oil SVO (unused rape seed or corn oil usually), and waste vegetable oil WVO (used vegetable oil from restaurants etc).
Diesel Engines (compression ignition engines) can nearly all be run on biodiesel without modification. If you plan to use straight vegetable oil, some modification is usually necessary (Mercedes and Volvo vehicles aside), and if you plan to use waste vegetable oil modification is always necessary and you will need to process your fuel before use.

Biodiesel
Biodiesel is a stronger solvent than standard mineral diesel and so all the accumulated gunge in the tank and pipes from years of driving dissolves into the new fuel. When the biodiesel is pumped through to the fuel filter these particles are deposited potentially blocking the filter. Shortly after starting to use biodiesel it is usually necessary to replace the fuel filter at least once. After that the pipes and tank are clean and fuel filters will only need replacing at standard service intervals and you will have a much cleaner car.Biodiesel's solvent powers also make it hard on any old style rubber piping. All rubber piping and other rubber parts in contact with fuel should be immediately replaced with modern hard-wearing long life nylon pipes to prevent problems. Most modern cars no longer have true rubber parts and so this may not be an issue.

Straight Vegetable Oil
Vegetable oil is more viscous than mineral diesel - i.e. it is thicker. Particularly on cold days and when the engine is cold you would have difficulties starting a car on vegetable oil. However, once the engine (or fuel) is warm everything should run as it would (or better than it did) on diesel. Therefore there are a few options to consider:

Dual Fuel System
Start the car with diesel/biodiesel and then switching to SVO when everything is warmed up. Before turning off the engine you need to switch back to diesel so that the injectors and fuel lines contain diesel. This means the engine will start next time you use the car, and it will prevent fuel freezing in the fuel lines during cold weather conditions.

Mixed Fuel
Vegtable oil can be mixed with diesel in the main tank at different ratios depending on the weather conditions. The warmer the weather, the higher the percentage of vegetable oil that can be used.

Conversion
Fit a fuel preheater in the tank, a heat exchanger to warm fuel, and/or a heated fuel filter.A typical straight vegetable oil conversion will have a fuel preheater which warms up the SVO sufficiently to get the engine started, and then a heat exchanger which uses the heat from the water in the radiator to warm the SVO fuel while the engine is running.

Waste Vegetable Oil
Waste vegetable oil is the cheapest fuel to use, but requires the most work on the part of the car owner. If you car runs on straight vegetable oil, then it should run without problem on waste vegetable oil - as long as the oil is correctly processed before use.

Maintenance
An engine will usually run more smoothly on vegetable oil, and be better lubricated than with mineral diesel therefore lasting much longer. However, it is essential that you continue to maintain your engine properly and always keep a spare fuel filter handy in case you suffer from a blockage. In very cold weather you should add some mineral diesel to your fuel to prevent problems with freezing.

Indian Cars that can use Biodiesel
All Indian manufacturers have no clear standing on biodiesel. Most dealerships are unclear about what will happen to ones warranty,when biodiesel is used. This is set to change once Biodiesel becomes more mainstream.

But from the details collected we have come to these conclusions:

Tata, has the most number of passenger cars running in India. The majority of their fuel handling material is different alloys(metal) and the very little piping that is used (the dealerships claims that) is claimed to be made from different plastics.

Maruti claims that their majority piping material is metal alloys and the non metal piping is usually made from different plastics.

Hyundai too claims to be having plastic and metal piping

Ford on the other hand said they where not sure what material they use and believed it to be of some resin source. Thus do extra research before thinking of using Bio diesel in you Ford vehicle.

Benz said their stand on Bio diesel will be released soon to the media

What ever be the case if required changing these pipe to Biodiesel compatible once will be a procedure that will cost less than 2000Rs including labour

The information provided above is only trivial and consult your mechanic before using Bio diesel in your vehicle.


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Biodiesel a solution to Sewage.

World over sewage treatment plants are fighting algae bloom, when this algae can be effectively harvested and processed to obtain valuable oil that can be converted into Bio diesel. The equipment and knowledge required for the implementation of this process is available world over and at nominal costs , which is reducing by the day. The complicated part of this process is the separation of algae from water which currently has been made easy to a large extent.

Sewage treatment is done in different steps and the algae problem comes at around the last or the second last steps. Currently treatment plants are spending money to remove the bio particles etc which can be used as fertilizers. These cannot be part of the purified water they let out, thus it needs to be removed. Private companies, individuals or co operative societies have an opportunity here, they could collect this waste and/or extract algae from the treatment plants ponds.
The algae extracted could be directly used for oil production after processing. The Bio particles collected could be used as fertilizers in algae ponds. Thus making the algae oil a lot more Eco friendly than when chemical fertilizers are used. This can be effective waste management methods where land is available, land is required because algae ponds need more surface area than depth for maximised algae growth.

Another method would be to use :-

Thermal depolymerization, this uses hydrous pyrolysis to convert reduced complex organics to oil.

But the problem with this would be environmental and economic issues. The amount of heat used in this process is huge thus making it economically non viable and environmentally ineffective. So Biodiesel would be the better option.




Thus our own waste can power our vehicles.





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Indian Standard for 100% Biodiesel Blend

ISO 15607 For Biodiesel

Property	Unit	Minimum	Maximum	Test Method
Ester Content	% (m/m)	96.5		prEN 14103
Density @ 15 °C	kg/m2	860	900	EN ISO 3675EN ISO 12185
Viscosity @ 40 °C	mm2	3.5	5.0	EN ISO 310
Flash Point	°C	Above 101		ISO / CD 3679
Sulfur Content	mg/Kg		10
Carbon Residue(10% Bottoms)	% (m/m)		0.3	EN ISO 10370
Cetane Number		51.0		EN ISO 5165
Sulphated Ash Content	% (m/m)		0.02	ISO 3987
Water Content	mg/Kg		500	EN ISO 12937
Total Contamination	mg/Kg		24	EN 12662
Copper Strip Corrosion(3hr @ 50 °C)	rating	Class 1	Class 1	EN ISO 2160
Thermal Stability
Oxidation Stability, 110 °C	hours	6		pr EN 14112
Acid Value	mg KOH/g		0.5	pr EN 14104
Iodine Value			120	pr EN 14111
Linolenic acid methyl ester	% (m/m)		12	pr EN 14103
Polyunsaturated (>= 4double bonds) methylesters	% (m/m)		1
Methanol Content	% (m/m)		0.2	pr EN 14110
Monoglyceride Content	% (m/m)		0.8	pr EN 14105
Diglyceride Content	% (m/m)		0.2	pr EN 14105
Triglyceride Content	% (m/m)		0.2	pr EN 14105
Free Gylcerol	% (m/m)		0.02	pr EN 14105pr EN 14106
Total Gylcerol	% (m/m)		0.25	pr EN 14105
Alkaline Metals (Na + K)	mg/Kg		5	pr EN 14108pr EN 14109
Phosphorus Content	mg/Kg		10	pr EN 14107

ASTM D-6751 standards for biodiesel

Flash point (closed cup) 130°C min. (150°C average)
Water and sediment 0.050% by vol., max.
Kinematic viscosity at 40°C 1.9-6.0 mm2/s
Ramsbottom carbon residue, % mass 0.10
Sulfated ash 0.020% by mass, max.
Sulfur 0.05% by mass, max.
Copper strip corrosion No. 3 max
Cetane 47 min.
Carbon residue 0.050% by mass, max.
Acid number -- mg KOH/g 0.80 max.
Free glycerin 0.020 % mass
Total glycerine 0.240% by mass, max.
Phosphorus content 0.001 max. % mass
Distillation 90% @ 360°C

Cost Key to Biodiesel Popularity

The most important thing that will determine whether or not biodiesel will come to limelight in the near future is its price competitiveness. Simply put, if its cheap people will start using it and also start talking about it thus gaining the mainstream popularity.

Hydrogen , Hybrid or some of those SciFi type fuels have a special feeling towards it as though they are great human advancements so they get mainstream attention very easily. Biodiesel lacks this hue, not because it is inferior in any way , in fact its superior to all those in many ways but most are not seen by the lay man in his first look.

The simple fact that it can be used in cars as they are with no or very few modifications if any is a very important advantage it has over these other alternative fuels.

Now is Biodiesel not as popular as these other fuels? To get facts straight, except for the Initiated (those who are into biodiesel) the lay man doesn't know what Biodiesel is
that is fact.
A simple method to know this is do a Google search on Biodiesel and then on Hydrogen and the other fuels the number of results will be your answer.

So how can biodiesel be more popular? To the common man (we are talking about an average of the Third world common man and the Developed world common man) cost of something talks easiest. So the key is keeping Biodiesel cheaper than other alternative fuels in the market this itself will be the biggest push it can receive.This will include utilising all products from biodiesel and proper sourcing of feedstock and so on.
Another important factor making Biodiesel unattractive is the fact that in the developed world the number of personal vehicles running on diesel is small, but unlike the developed world most developing countries have a huge number of personal transport running on diesel. Thus another key point in biodiesel popularity is that it should be made popular in developing con tries too. There the cost of Biodiesel will talk better than environmental factors.
So we should working on finding and developing sources process etc that will make Biodiesel cheaper.

Even at current prices Bio diesel is cheaper than other alternative fuels in most parts of the world and this is a key reason behind it gaining popularity at a very fast pace. IT is cheaper than conventional fuels only in few areas and we should learn from them to make it cheaper than conventional fuels.

links and news items on Bio Diesel on the right side

10 Safety Tips While working with Methanol?

Methanol as we all know is a poisonous substance that can in the worst cases even cause death and even in small doses result in serious ailments. One thing that we should understand is that any poisonous substance can be handled safely if we maintain some safety code. Here are 10 important things that you should observe when using methanol.

1. Methanol should be handled only in a heavily ventilated area. It can be an enclosed area but it should be cross ventilated with exhaust fans has a CFM rating of more than 1500. (This is will vary according to room size.This is rating recommended for a 20 * 20 *15 feet room)
2. The containers contain methanol should be 100% leak proof if leak is suspected change container immediately
3. The containers containing methanol should be kept in well ventilated areas at all time. This is to avoid dangers of inflaming and concentrated inhaling in case of leakage.
4. The area where methanol is stored should be fitted with Industry grade non spark and low heat electrical equipment. These are not very expensive contrary to popular belief, in some countries they are even subsidised.
5. Clear sings indicating no smoking and other enforcement tools like smoke detectors etc should be installed near methanol storage. Even home brewers should follow this because many people might come to see your home brewing equipment and so the danger level is high.
6. Use gloves , masks , aprons etc while handling methanol as studies have shown that methanol can be assimilated into the blood stream through ones skin.
7. Have fire extinguishers in handy locations, if budget allows install a fire detection and auto extinguisher, in case of a fire when you are not around. These are relatively expensive but if you look around you could get something that fits your budget.
8. The containers should be clearly marked as to be containing methanol, as accidental intake can cause even death. so keep in distinguishable containers. Preferably coloured ones so that they cant be mistaken for water. Never keep methanol in containers that resemble you house hold water bottle. SUCH INCIDENTS OF ACCIDENTAL INTAKE ARE FREQUENTLY REPORTED.
9. Methanol vapour is equally dangerous, so as soon as the required methanol is taken close and keep back the methanol bottle to storage area.
10. Finally buy as little methanol as possible, this might not be economicall but this is the safest solution. As accidents can happen however careful you are.

NEVER ALLOW CHILDREN INTO WORK AREA.

Making Bio diesel using Ethanol

Making bio diesel using ethanol is a process that is comparatively more difficult than using methanol. The main reasons for this are :-

• Water sensitivity of the reaction
• Getting highly pure Ethanol that has less that .5 % water is difficult.
• This process is done better with KOH which too is not easily sourced
• The oil needs to be heated to 120 degree or more(Celsius)
• The amount of ethanol required is more
• Glycerin separation is a matter of luck (There are some ways to driving it to separate though)

Materials and Quality:-

Raw oil 100 L

Anhydrous Ethanol 27.4 L 199(99.5 % pure)

Potassium Hydroxide 1.30 Kg (85% or higher)

Ethanol in liters = 0.2738 x Amount of oil in liters

Amount of KOH in Kg = 0.013 x Amount of oil in liters

Process:-

Using a 100 liter batch of oil as an example, the KOH used reacts with 1.07kg of ethanol to produce 1.95kg of potassium ethoxide. This mixture now contains (27.4x0.789)-1.07 = 20.55kg of free ethanol and 1.07kg of ethanol as potassium ethoxide catalyst. Any water added to the entire system reverses the above reaction and quenches a proportional amount of the potassium ethoxide catalyst. One part of water can quench up to 84.15/18.02 = 4.67 parts of catalyst.The ethanol-KOH mixture is then poured into the oil(maintained at 60 degree Celsius) and the transesterification process occurs.

100 liters (91kg) of oil reacts with 13.1kg of ethanol. The 21.62kg (or27.4L) of ethanol used in the batch represents 21.62/13.1x100 = 165% of that required for complete transesterification of 100 liters of oil. (A 65% excess over the theoretical requirement). This values change according to the oil used and thus mastering of the process can take time.

Steps:-

1. Oil is measured.
2. The required amount of ethanol is placed into a small covered container.
3. The required amount of potassium hydroxide is quickly weighed.With minimum atmospheric exposure
4. The solid potassium hydroxide is added to all of the ethanol which is then vigorously stirred in the covered container until completely dissolved. At this point the dissolved KOH is presumed to have been converted to potassium ethoxide catalyst.
5. The ethanol-catalyst mixture is poured into the oil in the main reactor and stirred rapidly. Mixing is continued for 6 hours at 50+ temperature. The reaction mixture usually changes to a turbid orange-brown color within the first few minutes; then it changes to a clear transparent brown color; finally, as the reaction is completed, the mixture again becomes somewhat turbid and orange-brown colored due to the emulsified free glycerol which has been formed.
6. In the completed reaction, the glycerol begins to separate immediately upon cessation of stirring, and the settling mostly complete in one hour. After initial settling, the entire contents of the reaction vessel are again mixed together and stirred vigorously for 40 minutes. After the first 20 minutes of re stirring, water is added at 15% of the initial volume of oil used in the reaction. Stirring should continue an additional 20 minutes after the water is added for a total of 40 minutes of re stirring. This mixture is then allowed to settle. A longer separation time facilitates the washing process. Remixing the glycerol layer with the ester layer while adding water has the effect of collecting and removing impurities and products of incomplete reaction from the ester. The washing phase can then proceed at a more rapid pace than if the remixing stage were left out.
7. Wash the given mixture as usual

An entry on producing ethanol at home will be posted soon
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Making Use of Glycerin

Glycerin is one of the most important by products of bio diesel. Now making use of it will reduce the actual cost of bio diesel produced in any given unit. The main problems that we face for utilising the Glycerin thus produced are the impurities. One of most problem making impurities is methanol. Other impurities are different salts, soap, water etc. Now there are different ways we can use glycerin in. These can be basically divided into direct use of crude glycerin and purified use. Now let us first consider how we can use it directly.

Direct Use:-
The easiest way to use this glycerin directly is to use it in bio digester's(bio gas plants) The thing to be care full about while using glycerin in bio plants is that it shouldn't be added in large quantities and more importantly it shouldn't be the only input to the plant. If you add a little by little to the plant then experiments have shown that it can increase the production of the plant by up to 10 -15%. This is a major way to utilise the glycerin thus produced. The bio gas can be utilised to power the Bio diesel Plants electricity needs to an extent. The thing to be remembered is that this is fairly easy to do but less rewarding that purifying it and then selling it.

Purifying and Utilising:-
Pure glycerin or glycerol is in great demand world over for different industries from cosmetics to pure industrial applications and some times even in IT industries. The transestirification can yield on average 5% glycerin (crude) for a given batch quantity. Thus around 30 liters of diesel could give you 1 liter fairly pure glycerin. The cost of 1 liter glycerin is around 300 Rs (8$). This price is directly dependent on the purity. Now let us see a process to get fairly pure glycerin.

Take Aqueous solution of glycerol which has to be acidic (if it's not, acidify with H2SO4). It's first treated with fine activated carbon, neutralised with NaHCO3 and boiled down. Majority of solid non organic salts is filtered off and the rest is removed by addition of alcohol followed by filtering. Evaporating clear solution and heating slowly to 180 degree C gives a clear, slightly yellow liquid thick at room temp. This is fairly pure glycerol. Warning, methanol is poisonous. When boiling down glycerol, there are produced acrolein (a poison and a mutagen). All procedures should be therefore done in a well ventilated area. The methanol evaporates at relatively low temperatures. Other methods like Flash distillation or vacuum distillation or chemical purification etc are much more expensive but will yield better quality glycerin.

Another suggestion would be to use ethanol instead of methanol. (A different process altogether)

The glycerin in crude form can be used as a degreaser but the methanol needs to be removed
Letting the by-product stand in an open container for a few weeks will NOT evaporate the methanol as it's often said it will, or not much anyway.
The best way to remove methanol is to heat it, but be care full not to heat it under direct flame.

Glycerin is an alcohol (glycerol) and is used as a preservative in the food industry, as well as a sweetener: it is very sweet, yet it contains no sugar. This makes it an ideal sweetener for patients who cannot take sugar. But this is not a callory free substitute. Do not attempt this until your are 100% sure that all methanol is removed.(we do not recommend this due to the high risk involved from methanol poisoning)

Some links to methods of purifying glycerin:-
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7126032.html

Video of a Algae Bioreactor

Algae Bio reactors could be one of the best sources of algae for making bio diesel. They provide a supper accelerated growth region and in large plants, factories etc they could be deployed with ease.

An algae photobioreactor on the roof of MIT university.The clear polycarbonate tubes are approx 3 meters high, and 10-20 centimeters in diameter.It removes up to 86% of the NOx and 40% of the CO2 of the smokestack emissions that are bubbled through it. The algae are feeding on exhaust with 13% CO2 content. This size algae photobioreactor can't handle the entire exhaust emissions, it would need to be much larger for that.This photobioreactor you see here on the roof of MIT, has since been dismantled and reassembled in Naboomspruit (now called Mookgopong) South Africa at a biodiesel plant.

Another news:-(http://www.csrwire.com/News/8500.html)

GSPI demonstration facility is located in Montana and is one of the largest demonstration facilities in the world.Phase I objective in this project is to determine the ability of the GSPI Algae Process System to solve the daunting operational problems for microalgae production, which have plagued the algae production industry for years.Phase I now is complete and has been successful in controlling the most important variables in algae production, i.e. temperature of water in large systems, salinity

So at last algae is making moves in the bio diesel front

Biodiesel Production from Algae Oil

Biodiesel Production from Algae Oil
The major problem associated with the use of pure vegetable oils as well as oil from algea as fuels for diesel engines is caused by high fuel viscosity (Viscosity – from Physics Hypertextbook) in compression ignition. Algal oil, as well as vegetable oils, are all highly viscous, with viscosities ranging 10–20 times those of no. 2 Diesel fuel. Amongst vegetable oils in the context of viscosity, castor oil is in a class by itself, with a viscosity more than 100 times that of no. 2 Diesel fuel (MSDS of No.2 Diesel Fuel – PetroCard). Due to their high viscosity and low volatility, they do not burn completely and form deposits in the fuel injector of diesel engines. Furthermore, acrolein (a highly toxic substance) ( Acrolein – from EPA) is formed through thermal decomposition of glycerol (Glycerol – from Info Please).

Dilution, micro-emulsification (Emulsions & Emulsification – from Wikipedia), pyrolysis ( Pyrolysis Definition from AFR) and transesterification are the four techniques applied to solve the problems encountered with the high fuel viscosity. Amongst the four techniques, chemical conversion of the oil to its corresponding fatty ester is the most promising solution to the high viscosity problem. This process - chemical conversion of the oil to its corresponding fatty ester, and thus biodiesel - is called transesterification.

Transesterification of Algal Oil into Biodiesel

Transesterification of algal oil is normally done with ethanol and sodium ethanolate serving as the catalyst. Sodium ethanolate can be produced by reacting ethanol with sodium. Thus, with sodium ethanolate as the catalyst, ethanol is reacted with the algal oil ( the triglyceride) to produce bio-diesel & glycerol. The end products of this reaction are hence biodiesel, sodium ethanolate and glycerol. This end-mixture is separated as follows: Ether and salt water are added to the mixture and mixed well. After sometime, the entire mixture would have separated into two layers, with the bottom layer containing a mixture of ether and biodiesel. This layer is separated.

Biodiesel is in turn separated from ether by a vaporizer under a high vacuum. As the ether vaporizes first, the biodiesel will remain. The biodiesel from algae is now ready for use!

Centrifuges

A centrifuge is a useful device for both biolipid extraction from algae and chemical separation in biodiesel.

Centrifuge Applications

There are several steps in the biodiesel production process where centrifugation is useful.

· Feedstock preparation - In this case, algae must first be separated from its medium, then the oil extracted from the algae.

· Separation of transesterification products – Biodiesel and glycerine must be separated, and any leftover reactants removed.

· Water wash – Biodiesel can be washed of soap and glycerine using a centrifuge.

· Magnasol solids removal - As an alternative to water washing, it may be possible to wash the biodiesel in Magnasol.

The parameters to be considered while evaluating the ideal algae processor are:

· Capacity/throughput of the system
· Speed/density



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Biodiesel From Pig Excreta.

Researchers at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, led by Dr. Yuanhui Zhang, have developed a system that converts pig manure into crude oil on an industrial scale. This development is the culmination of a ten year research and development project that, in effect, makes a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.

The technology works by a thermochemical process that uses heat and pressure to break down the pig manure hydrocarbon chains. The end product consists of methane, water, carbon dioxide, water, and oil. The new pilot plant allows the conversion of pig manure in a continuous process, rather than a batch at a time, making the production of “pig oil” more feasible.

Pig manure has advantages over raw materials, like wood sludge, because the pig has already done most of the work. The pig has already biologically done most of the necessary processing.

A typical hog on a modern American farm produces about six gallons of body waste per day. While some of this product is used for fertilizer, the storing and processing of the stuff has been a major environmental problem on modern hog farms. When manure leeches into a water supply due to runoff it harms aquatic life by decreasing the oxygen available to fish, water plants, and other organisms. And, of course, the smell can be just overpowering.

If Dr. Yuanhui Zhang is correct, a typical hog would be able to produce 3.6 gallons of crude oil per day using his process. With a hundred million hogs on American farms, it takes very little math to determine that “pig oil” could make a significant dent in the energy needs of the United States. And a farmer could add up to ten dollars of profit per pig.

Dr. Yuanhui Zhang and his team now propose to build a pilot plant to test the conversion system, to make sure that his numbers in the lab can be replicated on the farm. Research is also ongoing to find out if other farm animal manure, cow and chicken for instance, could be used in the process. Human waste is already chemically similar to pig manure and could be used in the process without too much trouble.

While a process has been tested to refine the “pig oil” into something resembling diesel oil, more research is also necessary to see if the “pig oil” can be refined into other petrochemical products. The “pig oil” is similar, but not identical to the kind of oil that is pumped out of the ground.

Growing algae in huge tube for Biodiesel

PHOENIX - Algae may seem like one of life's little annoyances, but researchers hope the green, slimy stuff will one day replace one-third of the natural gas used to power an electric plant run by Arizona Public Service.
For a year, researchers watched algae multiply in huge, bubbling test tubes beneath the hot Arizona sun so they could find just the right strand of the microscopic single-celled plant.
The experiment has been so successful that it's about to expand into greenhouses on the plant grounds, and in time, be grown in such large quantities that it could be converted into fuel, cutting down on harmful greenhouse gases

It works like this: Algae ingests carbon dioxide and releases oxygen in the photosynthesis process. Algae is laden with oils that can be used to produce biodiesel, starches that can be transformed into ethanol and protein that could have a market niche in cattle and fish feed.
Rocket scientist's ideaThe idea was born three years ago, when Isaac Berzin, a rocket scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was experimenting with growing algae on the International Space Station.
GreenFuel Technologies of Cambridge, Mass., which Berzin founded, then struck a deal with Arizona Public Service to conduct a demonstration project beginning last year.
"There is lots of sunshine, plenty of land, and since algae doesn't need potable water to proliferate, we were in business," said GreenFuel CEO Cary Bullock.
Construction is about to begin on a series of greenhouse-like buildings about 30 feet wide by 500 feet long that will house the algae.
"Our scientists think that we can get maybe even 200 tons of algae per acre annually during mass production," Bullock said, adding that commercial production is expected to begin in 2008 in Arizona and other sites in Australia and South Africa that the company has targeted.
Obstacles on algae roadBut before the unique fuel can be produced on a mass scale, there are a few problems, including figuring out how to provide enough light to maximize algae growth and how to get the carbon dioxide in the water, where algae grows, fast enough to allow for maximum growth.
Qiang Hu, an assistant professor of applied biological sciences at Arizona State University, worked for two years on what Japanese scientists had hoped would be an algae-to-energy project in the late 1990s.
"I wish GreenFuel all the best," Qiang said. "But there were many technical problems in Japan, the most serious of which being that the algae would attach to the microfibers that were necessary to produce more light for growth inside the growth containers ... Much more energy was wasted and it turned out that the costs were just too great."
Bullock said he thinks those problems have been worked out during the past year of experiments but declined to discuss what he called "trade secrets."

Biocrude? Algae-to-oil project.

Sandia National Laboratories researcher Todd Lane withdraws a sample for analysis from a
A California company and a Department of Energy research lab have announced that they're teaming up to make oil out of algae — a potential fuel source that would be low on greenhouse gas emissions tied to warming.
LiveFuels Inc. says it will fund dozens of projects at Sandia National Laboratories with the aim of producing economically feasible "biocrude," aka biodiesel, by 2010.
Sandia's investment in related research goes back five years, says Grant Heffelfinger, a senior manager at the lab, providing time to build up expertise in "the challenge of understanding how and under what conditions" the process will work.


Algal oil is similar to soybean oil, which can also be used to produce biodiesel, but can be grown on marginal lands unsuitable for food crops and even in brackish water, LiveFuels said.
The company estimates that all U.S. oil imports could be replaced by biocrude grown on 20 to 40 million acres of marginal lands that exist across the country.
Sandia spokesman Mike Janes echoed that view. "Recent studies using a species of algae show that only 0.3 percent of the land area of the U.S. could be utilized to produce enough biodiesel to replace all transportation fuel the country currently utilizes," he said.
"In addition, barren desert land, which receives high solar radiation, could effectively grow the algae, and the algae could utilize farm waste and excess carbon dioxide from factories to help speed the growth of the algae."
Prices still prohibitiveBut not any algae will work. The cost-effective kind — as in making biocrude for less than $60 a barrel — is high in fats.
Commercially grown algae like Spirulina are high in protein and starch but low in fat. A few high-fat species of algae are promising, LiveFuels said, but the fats — at prices around $1,200 a pound — are cost prohibitive.
"'Fat algae' doesn't sound like a biocrude oil feedstock, but the petroleum we use today is derived from prehistoric biomass (including algae)," LiveFuels said in a statement announcing the joint venture. "Nature's biomass decomposition process occurred over millions of years under conditions of enormous heat and pressure. Much of the petroleum we use today began some 200 million years ago in the Carboniferous Period. The deposits of oil pumped from the North Sea, for example, consist partly of decomposed haptophyte algae called coccolithophorids."
"The challenge," LiveFuels said, "will be growing and transforming algae cheaply into biocrude within days rather than millennia."
LiveFuels Chief Executive Officer Lissa Morgenthaler-Jones says her company hopes to "grind down costs" across the process — from finding the right strains, to harvesting and final production.
"Other countries are ahead of the U.S. in biocrude research, but other countries were once ahead of us in the space race too," she said in announcing the venture. "America put a man on the moon in eight years, and America can make its own biocrude in four."
Greenhouse, biodiesel benefitsJanes said that algae offers environmental benefits in terms of greenhouse gases and as a more efficient fuelstock than biodiesel from crops like soybeans.
“The amount of greenhouse gasses generated are relatively small since most of the carbon dioxide emitted during the burning process is simply recycling that which was absorbed during plant growth," he said.
As for other biodiesel sources, Janes said that "a complete transition to biofuels could require boundless amounts of land if traditional crops are used."
But algae breaks that barrier. "With an oil-per-acre production rate 250 times the amount of soybeans," he said, "algae offers the highest yield feedstock for biodiesel."
Source:-http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15250836/

Algea: Utah State University

Utah State University researchers are using an innovative approach that takes oil from algae and converts it to biodiesel fuel.

USU is currently conducting research on algae and plans to produce an algae-biodiesel that is cost-competitive by 2009. Algae, plainly referred to as pond scum, can produce up to 10,000 gallons of oil per acre and can be grown virtually anywhere.

“This is perhaps the most important scientific challenge facing humanity in the 21st century,” said Lance Seefeldt, USU professor of chemistry and biochemistry.

“There are several options for solving the world’s energy problem, but at this point, none of them are realistically viable for long-term use.”

Biodiesel is a clean and carbon-dioxide-neutral fuel that is becoming more popular, but most of the current product comes from soybean and corn oil. As supply and demand grows, so does the price of soybeans and corn. People and animals rely on soybean and corn as a food commodity, eventually causing competition between commodities and growing enough product. Meeting this demand would require the world to use virtually all of its arable land, said Seefeldt.

The world today relies on fossil fuels to supply much of its energy, and there are currently 13 terawatts of energy used per year. A terawatt is 1,000 billion watts, and Seefeldt said usage is predicted to double to 26 terawatts by the year 2050. Fossil fuels are expensive, finite and generate greenhouse gasses that many believe are harming the environment, said Seefeldt.

“This has moved from a purely environmental issue to a global economics issue,” said Seefeldt.

Sir Nicholas Stern, chief economist for the World Bank, said that climate change presents a unique challenge for economics and that it has the potential to be the world’s greatest and widest ranging market failure ever seen.

“Business as usual will result in a five-to six-degree warming of the Earth by 2100,” said Stern. “This will result in a five to 10 percent loss in global gross domestic product, having a direct impact on human health and environment.”

Seefeldt, along with several fellow USU professors, formed the Biofuels Program to develop new and emerging technologies that will produce methane, biodiesel, hydrogen and alcohols from renewable, carbon-dioxide-neutral energy sources, such as consumer and agricultural waste and sunlight.

The state of Utah sees so much promise in the research that it has given the USU Biofuels Program $6 million for five years through the Utah Science and Technology Research Initiative. USTAR makes highly-selective, strategic investments in research with the potential to benefit Utah’s economy.

The research has already set in motion several spin-off and industry relationships, and one patent has already been issued, with four others pending.

“We are looking toward the world’s future energy solutions and USU is part of it,” said Seefeldt.

The research takes a tremendous amount of investment and energy, but the payoffs will be worth it, he said

Biodiesel from Soyabean Oil not for India

Rapidly expanding production of bio-diesel from Soybean oil is contributing to a projected 6 per cent increase in domestic soy oil disappearance.
Bio-diesel production is projected to use 19 per cent of total soy oil production for 2007-08 as compared with 13 per cent in 2006-07.

Soy oil is widely used in the US for bio diesel production. An interesting fact is that:-

One of the most important characteristics of diesel fuel is its ability to auto ignite, a characteristic that is quantified by a fuel’s cetane number or cetane index, where a higher cetane number or index means that the fuel ignites more quickly.7 U.S. petroleum diesel typically has a cetane index in the low 40s, and European diesel typically has a cetane index in the low 50s.
Graboski and McCormick8 have summarized several experimental studies of biodiesel characteristics. The reported cetane number for bio diesel ranges from 45.8 to 56.9 for soybean oil methyl esters, with an average of 50.9. In comparison the cetane index for petroleum diesel ranges from 40 to 52. They imply that careful production control could result in bio diesel products with cetane numbers in the high end of the range, whereas petroleum diesel tends toward the low end of the range.

In India soybean ranks third in oil seeds after groundnut and rapeseed/mustard.Soybean is considered to be a most economical and valuable agricultural commodity as, it has good adaptability towards a wide range of soil and climate. On an average dry matter basis, Soybean contains about 40% protein and 20% oil.But the down side to using Soybean is that it is very nutritious - the protein and oil components in soybean are not only in high quantity but also in high quality. Soy oil contains high proportion of unsaturated fatty acids, so it is also a healthy oil using some thing like this for producing oil when we still need more oil to feed the nation wont be justifiable. But if we can have new farms cultivating soybean for the sole purpose of bio diesel it can be a little more attractive option but in the overall picture it can turn out to be negative by leading to increase cost of Soybean oil for the common man.

So the last word would be that we have better options like Jatropha, algae, rubber seed and many other types of lower nutritional or inedible oils. In India due to its population we cannot think of using food to make bio diesel unlike what they do in The EU or US.

interesting links and news items on Bio Diesel on the right side

Biodiesel and Indian Energy Security

Development of biodiesel as an alternative fuel holds significant advantages for the country in the field of agriculture besides ensuring energy security
A target to meet 5 per cent of energy needs through bio diesel could generate 2.4 million jobs besides ensuring cultivation of 2.8 million hectares of waste land and an additional combined yearly farm income of Rs 42 billion from the fourth year onwards, a CII-Rabobank report has said.
Biodiesel initiatives can lead to considerable improvements for the rural population. Deploying wasteland for bio diesel production in the country in a micro business unit model should be given more importance as that will help in reducing the gap between the poor and the rich as currently the worlds fuel revenue are enjoyed by a very small group but if from the start we can promote the production, conversion and sale of bio diesel in a small scale industry model that can be achieved. I would say a system like what we have for milk production and distribution should be followed.

The US Agricultural Department puts India's 2006-07 oilseed productions at 29.5 million tonnes, which includes rapeseed, soybeans and sunflower seed. India is among the largest soybean producers in the world at 7.3 million tonnes.

The Planning Commission has also said with 7 million hectares, a potential bio diesel production of 7 million tones could be realised, equal to more than 10 per cent of the country's projected diesel consumption in 2011-12. The planing commission should decide now itself (when this industry is still in infancy) to promote it in a decentralised manner. Such a decision will have far reaching effect , it will give India fuel independence and also will help reduce the influence of people controlling the current fuels assets as the country will be producing the fuel as a whole and not companies producing fuel.


find interesting links and news items on Bio Diesel on the right side

Earthrace back at sea after rejecting Indian biodiesel

Earthrace back at sea after rejecting Indian biodiesel
Thursday, 17 May 2007
ROSS GIBLIN/Dominion Post
BAD RUN: NZ trimaran Earthrace captain Pete Bethune and crew are still battling bad luck and bureaucracy in their global record bid.
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The NZ trimaran Earthrace is still battling bad luck and bureaucracy in its bid for a global record for circumnavigating the world.
It left Cochin on India's west coast today, three days later than expected, after being let down by its biodiesel supplier in India.
It is on a 2592km trip to Salalah in Oman to refuel for a 3611km leg to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.
At Cochin, the boat had to fill up with conventional diesel, for the second time during its trip, after rejecting a truckload of biodiesel which did not meet specifications for the boat.
A spokeswoman for the project, Devann Yata, said the crew had to battle monsoon headwinds all the way from Indonesia to Cochin, and arrived exhausted from sleep deprivation.
During the trip Earthrace suffered further mechanical failures, the most serious being three broken mounts on the starboard engine, for it to travel for a full day on one engine at reduced speed.
Within a day of arriving in Cochin on Sunday, the crew repaired the mounts with help from a local dealer for the engine, but found that the biodiesel fuel had not even left Hyderabad, 1000km away.
"We were assured it would be here a week before our arrival," captain Pete Bethune, of Auckand, said. To compound things, three team members, including the captain, fell ill, suffering diarrhoea, vomiting, muscle aches and lethargy.
After days of frustrating phone calls, the truck left Hyderabad, but bureaucratic red tape at customs stopped it entering Cochin province. When it arrived at the port three days later, "it was of such poor quality that crew were forced to reject it," Ms Yata said.
"This is despite the fuel apparently coming with paperwork indicating it meets quality standards".
Earthrace has to return to San Diego by June 21 to break the 75 day record for a global circumnavigation.



You will find interesting links and news items on Bio Diesel on the right side

Student make Biodiesel for less than 5 Rs/l

Students experimenting with biodiesel
By LAURA TODE Of The Gazette StaffThe gray 1973 Mercedes in the Skyview High parking lot isn't your ordinary teenage project car, even though it has a snazzy blue, fire-winged falcon decal on the hood and metal-flake painted wheels.The old car has the characteristic knock and rattle of a diesel engine, but it has undergone a major transformation that for the past two years has been the work of about 20 Skyview students and two dedicated teachers.Students converted the vehicle to run on the biodiesel they make from used cooking oil, alcohol and potassium hydroxide.The project began two years ago with a simple chemistry formula. About 10 students in chemistry teacher Fred Michels' class got together after school several days a week to research and design a biodiesel processor, which Michels built last summer.45 cents a gallon After testing the processor and running more than 250 batches, students found they could efficiently make biodiesel for about 45 cents a gallon."In chemistry class you can do only so much in school and for this we got to do actual applications rather than just experiment in a lab," said Kevin Laborda, 18.Standardizing biodiesel Laborda took chemistry as a sophomore and is ready to graduate. He plans on pursuing a career in chemical engineering and, if he can, continuing to work on making biodiesel a standard in the automotive industry.This last year, when it came time to put the biodiesel to use, another team of 11 students jumped on board. Trevor Brown, a Skyview senior, took the lead in the mechanical conversion. He's hoping to go into welding and has been taking classes at the Career Center. He figured the challenge would be fun."It sounds silly, but I heard that the exhaust smells like french fries and I wanted to smell it - and yes it does," said Brown.The car was donated by Bob Dillon, and 17 local businesses provided materials and expertise in making biodiesel and converting the car.


The students worked on the project after school, and tech ed teacher Kurt Wosley and Michels were not paid for the time they spent with the students."It's real science," said Michels. "It's true problem solving. It's not learning content out of a book and filling it in on a test. It's trial and error and problems come up constantly, and you're trying to learn new solutions to problems as you go."The biodiesel gels at about 40 degrees Fahrenheit. So to make the engine work in Montana's climate, the students designed the car to start on regular diesel. The biodiesel is sent through a warming coil in a tank in the trunk. When the fuel is warmed, the driver flips a switch and the vehicle runs exclusively on biodiesel.The biodiesel car will make its first public appearance Wednesday at the Laurel Aviation Week at Laurel High School. After that, it should be a regular at Skyview sporting events, parades and other events to promote biodiesel."We're hoping that the project will turn some heads in the community toward alternative energy and help them make up their minds to move forward on it," Michels said.



Source:-
http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/05/08/news/local/30-biodiesel.prt

Farmer's Take on Bio Diesel

A farmer explains his views on bio diesel

Bioethanol Production

Ethanol can be produced from biomass by the hydrolysis and sugar fermentation processes. Biomass wastes contain a complex mixture of carbohydrate polymers from the plant cell walls known as cellulose, hemi cellulose and lignin. In order to produce sugars from the biomass, the biomass is pre-treated with acids or enzymes in order to reduce the size of the feedstock and to open up the plant structure. The cellulose and the hemi cellulose portions are broken down (hydrolysed) by enzymes or dilute acids into sucrose sugar that is then fermented into ethanol. The lignin which is also present in the biomass is normally used as a fuel for the ethanol production plants boilers. There are three principle methods of extracting sugars from biomass. These are concentrated acid hydrolysis, dilute acid hydrolysis and enzymatic hydrolysis.

Concentrated Acid Hydrolysis Process
The Arkanol process works by adding 70-77% sulphuric acid to the biomass that has been dried to a 10% moisture content. The acid is added in the ratio of 1.25 acid to 1 biomass and the temperature is controlled to 50C. Water is then added to dilute the acid to 20-30% and the mixture is again heated to 100C for 1 hour. The gel produced from this mixture is then pressed to release an acid sugar mixture and a chromatographic column is used to separate the acid and sugar mixture.
Dilute Acid Hydrolysis
The dilute acid hydrolysis process is one of the oldest, simplest and most efficient methods of producing ethanol from biomass. Dilute acid is used to hydrolyse the biomass to sucrose. The first stage uses 0.7% sulphuric acid at 190C to hydrolyse the hemi cellulose present in the biomass. The second stage is optimised to yield the more resistant cellulose fraction. This is achieved by using 0.4% sulphuric acid at 215C.The liquid hydrolates are then neutralised and recovered from the process.
Enzymatic Hydrolysis
Instead of using acid to hydrolyse the biomass into sucrose, we can use enzymes to break down the biomass in a similar way. However this process is very expensive and is still in its early stages of development.
Dry Milling Process
The dry milling process involves cleaning and breaking down the corn kernel into fine particles using a hammer mill process. This creates a powder with a course flour type consistency. The powder contains the corn germ, starch and fibre. In order to produce a sugar solution the mixture is then hydrolysed or broken down into sucrose sugars using enzymes or a dilute acid. The mixture is then cooled and yeast is added in order to ferment the mixture into ethanol. The dry milling process is normally used in factories producing less than 50 million gallons of ethanol every Year.
Sugar Fermentation Process
The hydrolysis process breaks down the cellulostic part of the biomass or corn into sugar solutions that can then be fermented into ethanol. Yeast is added to the solution, which is then heated. The yeast contains an enzyme called invertase, which acts as a catalyst and helps to convert the sucrose sugars into glucose and fructose (both C6H12O6).The fructose and glucose sugars then react with another enzyme called zymase, which is also contained in the yeast to produce ethanol and carbon dioxide. The fermentation process takes around three days to complete and is carried out at a temperature of between 250C and 300C.

Fractional Distillation Process
The ethanol, which is produced from the fermentation process, still contains a significant quantity of water, which must be removed. This is achieved by using the fractional distillation process. The distillation process works by boiling the water and ethanol mixture. Since ethanol has a lower boiling point (78.3C) compared to that of water (100C), the ethanol turns into the vapour state before the water and can be condensed and separated.