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 Acid Alcohol Glycerin Vegetable Oil Biodiesel 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 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% Biodiesel B20 = 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 Total Unburned HCs CO Particulate Matter **NOx Sulfates PAHs n-PAHs Mutagenicity CO2 Percent B100 ** B20 Diesel

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:

Transesterification While actually a multi-step process, the overall reaction looks like this: CH2OOR1 catalyst CH2OH |  | CHOOR2 + 3CH3OH  3CH3OORx + CHOH | | CH2OOR3 CH2OH Triglyceride 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)

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