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Furnace
Oil
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Introduction |
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Biodiesel
is a diesel replacement fuel that is manufactured from vegetable oils (edible
or non-edible), recycled cooking greases or oils, or animal fats. Because plants
produce oils from sunlight and air, and can do so year after year, these oils
are renewable. Animal fats are produced when the animal consumes plant oils and
other fats, and they too are renewable. Used cooking oils are mostly made from
vegetable oils, but may also contain animal fats. Used cooking oils are both recycled
and renewable. |
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| Basics |
| The biodiesel manufacturing process converts oils and fats into chemicals called long chain mono alkyl esters, or biodiesel. These chemicals are also referred to as fatty acid methyl esters or FAME. In the manufacturing process, 100 pounds of oils or fats are reacted with 10 pounds of a short chain alcohol (usually methanol) in the presence of a catalyst (usually sodium or potassium hydroxide) to form 100 pounds of biodiesel and 10 pounds of glycerin. Glycerin is a sugar, and is a co-product of the biodiesel process. Bio-diesel can be used in several different ways. It can be blended in different proportions with the mineral diesel or can be used in pure form. However, most popular blends world over are B 20 and B 100. B 20 means bio-diesel and mineral diesel are blended in 20:80 ratio. In India, the approach is cautious. It has been planned to try B 5 i.e. 5% bio-diesel first and then subsequently raise it to 20%. The fuel is designated as HSD B05max or HSD B05. Similarly the pure bio-diesel is termed as HSD B100. |
| Properties |
| The
fuel typically contains upto 14 different types of fatty acids that are chemically
transformed into Fatty Acid Methyl Esters (FAME). Different fractions of each
type of FAME present in various feedstock influences some of the properties of
the fuel e.g. High levels of saturates from pure Bio-Diesel improve Cetane number,
reduce NOx, and improve stability. This also raises the cloud point. However more
poly-unsaturates in B100 will reduce cloud point & Cetane number, reduce stability
(unless stability additives are used), and raise NOx. Resultantly HSD B100 substantially
reduces unburnt Hydro Carbon, CO and particulate matter. It has almost no sulphur,
no aromatics and about 10% built in oxygen helps in ensuring complete combustion.
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| Source |
| While sun flower and rape-seed are the raw material used in Europe for manufacturing Bio- Diesel, Soya Bean in USA, Palm Oil in Thailand, Frying Oil & animal fats in Ireland, in India Jatropha Curcas and Pongamia Pinnata (Honge & Karanjia) plants are envisaged primarily to be cultivated among the others viz, Rubber tree (Seeds), Madhuka Indica, Salvadora, Shorea Robusta, Pongamia Glabra, Mesua Ferra (Linn.), Neem etc. This is keeping in view the climatic conditions and the availability of considerable land. The seeds of these plants bear rich in Oil and used for production of HSD B100 through trans-esterification. This HSD B100 conforms to the requirements stipulated in BIS document PCD 3 (2242) C March 2005 (Ref Table 1 clause 3.2). While practicing the laid down procedures, various laws/ statutory requirements pertaining to handling, storage, dispensing, purchase, sale, safety etc. need to be adhered to. All practices as being followed in handling excluded Petroleum Products shall be adhered to while handling HSD B100. Similarly all practices, as being followed in handling Class 'B' Petroleum Products shall be followed for HSD B05max. |
| World Production |
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Several
countries have active biodiesel programs, with the European Union and the United
States as leaders. Several countries have provided legislative support and have
drawn up national policies on biodiesel development. Biodiesel is registered as
an alternate fuel with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and meets
clean diesel standards established by the California Air Resources Board (CARB)
and is also approved by the US Departments of Energy (DOE) and of Transportation
(DOT). Front-runners in the production of bio-diesel are Germany, France, Italy US and other European countries like Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Ireland, UK etc. Among the Asian countries Japan is actively pursuing the bio-diesel policy. Brazil has registered a significant growth rate among the Latin-American countries. All these countries produce more than 1,00,000 Tonnes of bio-diesel per annum. |
| Indian Scenario |
| Jatropha
Curcas with about 30% to 35% oil content in its fruit, has been identified for
India as the most suitable Tree Borne Oilseed (TBO) for production of bio-diesel
both in view of the non-edible oil available from it and its presence throughout
the country. The capacity of Jatropha Curcas to rehabilitate degraded or dry lands,
from which the poor mostly derive their sustenance, by improving land's water
retention capacity, makes it additionally suitable for up-gradation of land resources.
The Government of India through its Planning Commission has initiated a national program to cultivate vast areas of waste/degraded lands by plantation of oil-bearing trees. Seven expert groups have studied various aspects of biodiesel promotion in India and have submitted the report. This initiative will make substantial quantities of biodiesel available in the next 3-4 years. HSD B100 is environment friendly fuel and recommended under Bureau of Indian Standards for doping in mineral HSD in IS: 1460 up to a maximum of 5% v/v to formulate HSD B05max. Important parameters in the bio-diesel specification are flash point, cloud point, sulphated ash, acid number, free and total glycerin, oxidative stability, sulphur, cetane number, aromatics and appearance. Presently quality of bio-diesel can be tested before it is blended but not after it is blended with diesel fuel. Once bio-diesel is blended it is very difficult to determine if it was good quality of fuel to begin with. Therefore it is extremely important for the buyers to ensure that the bio-diesel meets the requirements before it is blended. Two small units are already in production of bio-diesel.
Armed with the favorable policies at different states of India, some more companies have planned to set up plants. Kochi Refineries, TeamSustain Ltd., Shirke Biohealthcare, Bhoruka Power Corporation, Southern Online Biotechnologies, Nova Bio Fuels and many others are planning to set up plants or are preparing feasibility reports. In the near future India will witness a huge spurt in the production of bio-diesel. India is a net importer of edible vegetable oils and it may not be possible to set aside farmland for bio-crops due to the pressure of producing food grains. However, a very vast land area in India is classified as below marginal/waste land. It is estimated that currently about 100 million-hectares has been designated as wasteland (mostly under the control of the Government or its agencies) and presently these are not under regular farming. Considering this, the cultivation of bio-crops could be taken up to serve two major objectives. Firstly, with proper selection of low nutrition demanding oil-bearing species, the waste land can be brought under compact plantation. Secondly, rejuvenation of the wasteland can also be achieved by upgrading the soil quality by addition of seed meal, which is obtained after extraction oil that has a high nutrition value. It is estimated that even if 10% of the total wasteland is brought under cultivation of these species, India can produce about 4-5 million MT per annum of biodiesel, which is about 10% of our current diesel demand. |
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