Bioenergy-Biodiesel

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Bioenergy-Biodiesel
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Agenda

• Why biodiesel?
• How to make it?
• Possible sources
• Transesterification
• Biodiesel plants
• Imperium renewables
• Biodiesel story
• Biodiesel/bioethanol discussion

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Rudolf Diesel (1893)

• The use of vegetable oils for engine fuels
  may seem insignificant today, he argued, but
  such oils may become, in the course of time, as
  important as petroleum and the coal-tar products
  of the present time."

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Energy content
Gasoline Ethanol
Biodiesel
100 67
86
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Biodiesel versus bioethanol (1)
12 x more (2005)
Europe currently represents 80 of global
biodiesel consumption and production
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Biodiesel versus bioethanol (2)
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Biodiesel

• Biodiesel is not the same thing as raw vegetable
  oil. It is produced by a chemical process which
  removes the glycerol from the oil.
• Biodiesel
• Domestic
• Renewable
• For diesel engines
• Derived from oils and fats

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Why biodiesel?

• Biodiesel
• Biodegradable
• Non-toxic
• Lower gas emission that diesel when burned
  (reduced green house gases emission by at least
  68)
• Commercially available in Europe and US
• Low S content
• High lubricity

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Biodiesel production

• Biodiesel is typically produced by a reaction of
  a vegetable oil or animal fat with an alcohol
  such as methanol or ethanol in the presence of a
  catalyst to yield mono-alkyl esters and glycerol,
  which is removed.

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How?

• Tranesterification alcohol ester ? different
  alcohol different ester
• Base of acid as a catalyst
• The oil is mixed with an alcohol, usually
  methanol or ethanol, and separated into methyl
  esters (biodiesel) and glycerol.

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Transesterification
Methyl esters
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Biodiesel technology
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(No Transcript)
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Possible sources

• Vegetable oil (soy, canola, palm, rapeseed,
• coconut etc.)
• Non food plants (jatropha)
• Recycled oil (McDonalds fryer)
• Animal fats (fish oil)
• Algae

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Palm oil (1)

• Palm oil plantations-approximately 11 million
  hectares (2006) in the world
• Conversion of tropical forest in Asia into palm
  oil plantation
• Habitat destruction and potential extinction of
  certain endangered species (e.g. the orangutans
  in Borneo, the Sumatran tigers and Asian
  rhinoceros)

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Palm oil (2)

• Palm oil is derived from the plants fruit
• A hundred kilograms of oil seeds typically
  produce 20 kilograms of oil
• Crude palm oil is extracted from the yellow parts
  of oil palm fruit

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Algae to biodiesel
Gallons of oil/acre/year
Corn 15
Soybeans 48
Sunflower 102
Rapeseed 127
Palm oil 635
Algae 1850cost
Pond algae
Greenfuels bioreactors
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What are algae?

• Primitive plants closely related to fungi
• No true leaves, stems or root systems
• Reproduce by means of spores, cell division or
  fragmentation.  
• Live" from excess nutrients in the water and
  sunlight  
• Over 17,400 species of algae have been identified
  and thousands more probably exist
• Not all of them produce high of oils

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Algae news (March, 2008)-PetroSun

• March, 2008 PetroSun's, commercial algae farm in
  Rio Hondo, Texas has begun production of algae
  for biofuel production.
• 1,100 acres of saltwater or wastewater ponds
• 4.4 million gallons of algal oil and 110 million
  pounds of biomass on an annual basis .
• Farming system will utilize native microalgae
  strains, so as to not disrupt local ecosystems.
• PetroSun has dedicated 20 acres of ponds for a
  proposed algae derived JP8 jet fuel research and
  development program.
• http//www.petrosuninc.com/index.html

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Jatropha (Jatropha curcas) (1)

• Resistant to drought and pests
• Grows on marginal lands
• India, South Africa, South East Asia
• Seeds contain up to 40 oil
• Oil in the seeds for biodiesel
• Residues for power electricity plants
• The plant yields more than
• 4x /ha that of soybean
• 10x /ha that of corn

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Jatropha (Jatropha curcas) (2)

• British Petroleum and D1 oils D1-BP Fuel Crops
  Limited (160 million over the next 5 years)
• Producing and growing jatropha seedlings
• 172,000 hectares of existing plantations in
  India, Southern Africa and South East Asia
• Imperium Renewables
• Growing Jatropha curcas in Hawaii as a feedstock
  for biodiesel production

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Imperium Renewables (1)
Imperium Renewables has constructed a new
biodiesel manufacturing plant at the Port of
Grays Harbor. The facility includes 8 main tanks
that can hold 2 million gallons each, and 2
smaller tanks that can hold 500,000 gallons each.
The rail line that serves the facility passes
through the center of this photo. Imperium
Renewablesthe largest biodiesel facility in US.
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Imperium Renewables (2)

• February 24th, 2008
• Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747
• 20 biofuel (coconut)80 standard fuel (1/4
  engine)
• No modification to the engine
• Washington ferries Issaquah, March 2008
• B5 blend of canola biodiesel

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Biodiesel cars

• The 86 fuel economy compared to 100 gasoline
• A smoother running engine due to the cleaning and
  lubricating properties of the fuel. 
• Other benefits
• Better smelling exhaust (french fries or a warm
  waffle iron).
• Special materials required for fuel lines, hoses,
  valves, gaskets
• B10, B20.

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Bioethanol versus biodiesel

• Feedstock (competition with food industry)
• Major producers
• Process
• Yields
• Production facilities