What is Biodiesel?

Question

What is Biodiesel & what can it be used for?

Answer 1

Here's a great site that tells you all about biodiesel fuel:

http://www.greenstudentu.com/Biodiesel.a...

Answer 2

It is primarily vegetable oil treated with lye and run through a process to separate the glycerine and water.  The result is a combustible oil, much like the original Diesel fuel.

Original Diesel engines ran on vegetable oil.

In the past several years, the Bush Administration diverted Navy budget to develop standardized processing for waste-grease BioDiesel.  It takes grease from restaurants and fast-food places to convert to Diesel fuel.  The Navy has standardized on a 20% BioDiesel to Petroleum mix and is now the largest BioDiesel consumer in the world.

BD is also a replacement for sulfur in Diesel.  Petroleum Diesel is somewhat abrasive.  Sulfur is added as a lubricant, yet it is also a nasty smog creator.  It causes Acid Rain.  Adding 20% BD to petroleum Diesel can replace the sulfur since BD is a natural lubricant.  The Bush Admin has explored this as a means of reducing sulfur smog.

Answer 3

It is regular diesel that is mixed with 11 % [ in most cases ] bio fuel, like cooking oil.  It can be used in almost any diesel engine.

Answer 4

The vast majority of what is called biodiesel is composed of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME).  These are produced by reacting fats (either vegetable or animal) with methanol using sodium hydroxide as a catalyst.  The scientific name for the reaction involved is transesterification.   The reaction substitutes three methanol molecules for the single glycerin molecule in the fats (fats are esters between three fatty acids and a single glycerin).  The resulting products are three FAME molecules and one glycerin molecule.  The sodium hydroxide is not consumed.

FAME can be used as a fuel in most diesel engines, either blended with regular diesel fuel or straight.  Some older engines cannot handle straight FAME, but most newer ones can.  FAME has excellent combustion characteristics (high cetane number), excellent lubricating properties ( a plus when mixed with ultra low sulfur diesel) and low levels of contaminants such as sulfur.  It's only real draw backs are a higher pour point than conventional diesel oil and its solvency (which is why older diesels can only tolerate small amounts as it will dissolve seals in the fuel system).