Heating values of diesel and biodiesel

The high heating value

• Petroleum diesel: 42.7 MJ/kg.
• Biodiesel derived from seed oils, such as rapeseed or soybean: 37 MJ/kg.
• Biodiesel derived from algae: 41 MJ/kg.

An informative review paper on the physico-chemical properties of feedstocks for biodiesel production

A summarized information was presented in Tables in this paper on the following aspects:

• Yields of vegetable oils and their fatty acid composition.
• Influence of feedstocks on biodiesel process selection and operating conditions.
• Physico-chemical properties of methyl esters from various bio-oils.
• Physico-chemical properties of methyl esters from various bio-oils.

A list of Biodiesel Kits and Production Equipment suppliers

Websites:

1. http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_supply.html
2. http://www.biodieselnow.com/blogs/methods/archive/2007/01/27/the-basics-of-biodiesel-production-101.aspx
3. http://www.biodieselpictures.com/

Suppliers:

1. Alvan Blanch is a British manufacturing and project engineering company with a global outlook, specializing in the design, production and supply of quality machines and integrated systems for the primary and secondary processing of agricultural produce and waste materials.

2. Arbor Biofuels Company LLC, is an Ann Arbor based start-up company. We manufacture methyl ester (biodiesel) from the collected vegetable oil waste of our area. We also specialize in the fabrication Biodiesel Purification equipment, particularly in the area of ion exchange columns or dry wash towers.

3. Anyang General International Co., Ltd (AGICO) is specially in design and manufacture of complete oil plants and equipments, importing and exporting various mechanical products and engaging in external economic and technical cooperation.

4. ARBODS Ltd supplies fuel/energy saver means/equipments and a complete range of biodiesel processing equipments, reactors, plants. From simple compact processing kits to full-scale commercial plants with equipment, personnel and training provided as required.

5. BDC Systems is a private company with many years experience in grain drying, cleaning, storage and handling equipment, also milling and mixing.

6. Bio100Supply ,located in Georgia, U.S.A. provides all of the lab ware, pumps, safety equipment and chemicals that are necessary for making homemade biodiesel or creating a SVO conversion kit for your car.

7. BioMac, supply a complete range of biodiesel processing equipment at an affordable cost. BMC provides a complete range of biodiesel processors and support system from compact units to full-scale industrial plants, tailored to customers’ needs.

8. Bio Development, LLC provides quality products to consumers searching for a way to produce alternative fuels in order to create a cleaner, safer environment.

9. Biodiesel 123. Biodiesel123 is made up of a team intent on manufacturing the safe and efficient biodiesel processors available.

10. Biodiesel Experts International, The premier source for Biodiesel process equipment, engineering, sales and support.

11. Bio-Diesel International, a company in Austria provides solutions for the industrial use of renewable resources.

12. Biodiesel Logic Inc is based on the vision that small to medium scale biodiesel production is not only logical but profitable. Also that small to medium scale packaged processing equipment can be improved by applying industrial engineering criteria that has not been normally available to the small biodiesel producer.

13. Orbitek Biodiesel Production Equipment specializes in Biodiesel Producers, Biodiesel Productions, Biodiesel Production Systems, Biodiesel Technology and Renewable Fuels.

14. Biodiesel Solutions manufactures the BiodieselMaster® line of continuous-flow automated processors at its 30,000 sq. ft. factory in Sparks, NV. It is an engineering company dedicated to supporting small-scale biodieselers in every aspect of making their own fuel. This company also supplies materials to biodiesel cottage industries and biodiesel plants.

15. Biodiesel-technologies's proprietary process offers advantages and cost efficiencies over its competitors for technology, production, and facilities in this emerging industry.

16. Biodiesel Technologies International, LTD (Biodiesel Gear) -Located in Illinois, this company produces cost effective biodiesel p equipment and and all of the accessories that you wil lneed to create your own homemade brew. They also supply individual parts such as hoses and pumps to home brewers who are attempting to design a one of a kind biodiesel processor.

17. Biodiesel Warehouse is focused on providing a practical online resource for the small to medium capacity (5 to 1 million gallons per year) home brewer, coop, farm or business. We believe in using high quality materials, and only sell processors which utilize steel plumbing and steel reaction vessels.

18. Biofuels, an Argentina company that provides pressurized steel units designed for individual or coop use. They will process both virgin or waste vegetable oil, and are fully self-contained.

19. Cavitation Technology Inc., is an engineering and manufacturing company, specializing in the production of the biodiesel equipment with its signature product.

20. Crown Iron Works Company's biodiesel production equipment is designed for continuous operation for maximum efficiency and safety. The process is a two stage transesterification reaction followed by ester washing, drying and alcohol recovery. Excess methanol is recovered from all product streams to virtually eliminate discharge to air and water and allow its reuse in the process.

21. DirectIndustry is the permanent virtual exhibition, connecting manufacturers and buyers in 5 languages, around the world. With 4 million visitors a month sourcing from over 48,000 industrial products, it is the biggest industrial exhibition online.

22. Ascension Industries, Inc. - Durco Industrial Filtration Division provides their state-of-the-art Biodiesel Dry Washing & Filtration Systems in the US,Europe, and Asia.

23. Doctor Diesel, Located in California, this company specializes in producing small-scale biodiesel making equipment and parts for the hobbyist or serious home brewer. It is also a good site to get advice on making your own biodiesel.

24. UkrBudMash Ltd., a company in Ukraine to provide BioDieselMatchTM continous stream biodiesel production systems.

25. Energea, a company in Austria with CTER technology "Continuous Trans Esterification Reactor" that opens a new chapter in biodiesel production: With up to 50% lower costs of investment and practically 100% yield. Turn-key installations, built in container sized modules, provide for considerably less space requirement.

26. EuroFuelTech manufactures all of the biodiesel equipment needed to produce quality fuel, whether you want to make 2,000 litres per day or 400,000 litres per day.

27. Evolution Biodiesel,LLC provides biodiesel processors.

28. EZBiodiesel is a company providing a full range of solutions to your biodiesel processor needs. It is ready to run processors from 20-800+ gallons, & Do It Yourself Kits available as well as parts & accessories and also has a vast amount of Free information about biodiesel.

29. Fertile Fuels is a Colorado based research and fuel production company focused on rural and urban Biodiesel production.

30. GHP-Biodiesel, a company in Germany provides small scale biodiesel equipment plus logistic support. Renting of equipment.

31. Green Fuels provides small and medium scale biodiesel equipment in Europe.

32. Green Grid Solutions, a Canadian company provides Biodiesel manufacturing supplies.

33. Greenline Industries is a proven provider of innovative technologies for the production of biodiesel fuel. It manufactures award-winning biodiesel production equipment and provide engineering and consulting services for the construction and management of biodiesel facilities.

34. GreenShift develops and commercializes clean technologies that facilitate the efficient use of natural resources.

35. Goat Industries, a company in UK to provide biodiesel equipment, 'veggie boost'er, conversion kits etc.

36. Home BioDiesel offers a quality product for the conversion of vegetable oils into diesel fuel.

37. Homebiodieselkits provides complete biodiesel kits assembled and ready to produce biodiesel fuel the same day. Including a superior fuel filtering system and solid one piece steel frame.

38. IBG Monforts Oekotec can certainly rightfully claim to be an expert in the oil seed processing industry.

39. Imerjent LLC, a start-up technology firm, launched in January 2007 to bring an innovative, highly automated biodiesel production system to market. The firm will specialize in manufacturing cost-effective, medium-scale modular systems.

40. JatroDiesel is a Biodiesel Production Equipment provider and Biodiesel producer.

41. KEE CHEUNG CO, located in China, is biology diesel-oil equipment factory, with strong technology strength, involved in biodiesel research, product, biodiesel equipment manufacture.

42. Kemia Gmbh Manufactures Biodiesel Production Equipment And Waste Oil Recycling Equipment. Containerized Units, Quick Delivery, Quick Installation.

43. Lurgi provides proprietary technologies and exclusively licensed technologies in the areas gas-to-petrochemical products via synthetic gas or methanol and synthetic fuels, gas generation and treatment, petrochemical intermediate and end products, biofuels as well as food and oleochemicals.

44. National Tank Outlet is your source for plastic storage tanks.

45. Nova Biosource Fuels, Inc. is a Leading Edge Provider of Biodiesel using its Proprietary Patented Process Technology. Nova currently has over 230 million gallons of Biodiesel in various stages of construction or in operation.

46. NAZCO distributes renewable alternative fuels; bulk vegetable oils and biodiesel production equipment for a cleaner world.

47. Olympia Green Fuels LLC, located in Washington, this company sells a modular kit for making biodiesel at home. These kits produce biodiesel from both fresh and waste vegetable oil. These processors will convert both fresh and waste vegetable oil into a washed and polished biodiesel fuel that is capable of meeting the quality standards of the ASTM.

48. Pacific Biodiesel, Inc. manages biodiesel plants in Hawaii, Oregon and Texas and creates truly sustainable, community-based biodiesel production facilities that incorporate feedstock usage, fuel processing and product distribution within localized geographic areas in order to maximize the economic and environmental benefits and minimize energy consumption.

49. PESCO-BEAM Bio-diesel Systems are the most complete systems on the market today.

50. Planet Biodiesel, located in Colorado this company supplies the information and products you need to make your own biodiesel fuel.

51. Renewable Energy Group (REG) leads the nation in biodiesel production and marketing.

52. SE-Energy specializes in offering a single-source solution for 40mm-320mm gal/yr biodiesel plants.

53. Special Technologies, located in Ukraine and provides modern technologies and equipment for biodiesel production.

54. SunBio Systems (SB) is focused on the small to mid sized biodiesel equipment market. SBS biodiesel machines range from the university grade research and development system to truck fleet and rural area systems, to mid sized plants that produce 50 million gallons per year.

55. Utah Biodiesel Supply carries a large selection of Biodiesel home brewing supplies, equipment, literature, soap, bumper stickers, decals, and more.

56. Wintek Corporation has methanol recovery systems for Biodiesel and glycerin to meet ASTM standards. Custom design in carbon or stainless steel for capacities of 5-150GPM.

57. YiXing HuaDing Food Machinery Co,.Ltd, a company in China and is able to provide design, manufacturing, fixing, debugging of 10 t/d-600t/d oil refining production line and main equipments, including disc centrifuge, bleaching tower, deodorization tower.

Oxidation of Glycerol

Glycerol can be oxidized to produce fine and specialty chemicals. Traditionally, oxidation can be conducted by mineral acids, enzymatic, or electron-chemical processes but selective catalytic oxidation turns to be productive, cheaper, and environmental friendly.

Oxidation products are useful as intermediates. e.g. glyceric acid is an intermediate for medicine manufacture; dihydroxyactone is a self-tanning agent in cosmostics; tartronic acid is an chelating agent; hydroxypyruvic acid is used for fruit maturation and intermediate for amino acids;Mesoxalic acid has potential application in organic syntheses.

Most of recent studies focus on heterogeneous catalysts such as supported platinum or palladium, and gold etc while some on homogeneous catalyst such as TEMPO (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl).

The oxidation ususlly use air or oxygen as an oxidant at mild temperature (20-80 C) in the liquid pahse. The pH has an important impact on catalyst performance, product coversion rate and selectivity.

Purification of Crude Glycerol

The glycerol obtained from transesterification is separated from biodiesel by gravity. The concentration of this type of glycerol is ~50% (wt),which is so-called raw glycerol and contains the contaminants such as alcohol, soap, base catalyst, salts, and untreated organic materials.

Crude glycerol can be obtained through the following purification of raw glycerol:

1. Acidification of the soaps with HCl and separation of formed free acids by gravity
2. Neutralization with caustic soda
3. Evaporation for methanol recovery and water removal. The methanol recovered can be reused for biodiesel production. The the crude glycerol with 80-85% (wt.) can be obtained.

Crude glycerol purification:

1. Crude glycerol can be purified by vacuum distillation to a purity of 99.5% (wt).
2. Crude glycerol with diluted salt can be refined with ion-exchange
3. Crude glycerol with high salt content can be purified with ion exchange chromatography and thin film distillation.

Conversion of Glycerol to 1,3-Propanediol

Microbial Conversion of Glycerol to 1,3-Propanediol: Physiological Comparison of a Natural Producer, Clostridium butyricum VPI 3266, and an Engineered Strain, Clostridium acetobutylicum DG1(pSPD5). Abstract: Clostridium acetobutylicum is not able to grow on glycerol as the sole carbon source since it cannot reoxidize the excess of NADH generated by glycerol catabolism. Nevertheless, when the pSPD5 plasmid, carrying the NADH-consuming 1,3-propanediol pathway from C. butyricum VPI 3266, was introduced into C. acetobutylicum DG1, growth on glycerol was achieved, and 1,3-propanediol was produced. In order to compare the physiological behavior of the recombinant C. acetobutylicum DG1(pSPD5) strain with that of the natural 1,3- propanediol producer C. butyricum VPI 3266, both strains were grown in chemostat cultures with glycerol as the sole carbon source. The same “global behavior” was observed for both strains: 1,3-propanediol was the main fermentation product, and the qH2 flux was very low. However, when looking at key intracellular enzyme evels, significant differences were observed. Firstly, the pathway for glycerol oxidation was different: C. butyricum uses a glycerol dehydrogenase and a dihydroxyacetone kinase, while C. acetobutylicum uses a glycerol kinase and a glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase. Secondly, the electron flow is differentially regulated: (i) in C. butyricum VPI 3266, the in vitro hydrogenase activity is 10-fold lower than that in C. acetobutylicum G1(pSPD5), and (ii) while the ferredoxin-NAD
reductase activity is high and the NADH-ferredoxin reductase ctivity is low in C. acetobutylicum DG1(pSPD5), the reverse is observed for C. butyricum VPI 3266. Thirdly, actate dehydrogenase activity is only detected in the C. acetobutylicum DG1(pSPD5) culture, explaining why his microorganism produces lactate.

Production of 1,3-Propanediol from Glycerol by Clostridium cetobutylicum and Other Clostridium Species. Abstract: Glyceol was fermented with the production of 1,3-propanediol as the major fermentation product by four strains of Clostridium acetobutylicum, six of C. butylicum, two of C. beijerinckii, one of C. kainantoi, and three of C. butyricum. 1,3-Propanediol was identified by its retention times in gas chromatography and high-pressure liquid chromatography and by its mass spectrum. During growth of C. butylicum B593 in a chemostat culture at pH 6.5, 61% of the glycerol fermented was converted to 1,3-propanediol. When the pH was decreased to 4.9, growth and 1,3-propanediol production were substantially reduced.

Use of Glycerol from biodiesel production: Conversion to added value products. Abstract: A detailed study of main stages of a novel no-conventional process to obtain 1,3-propanediol (PD) from glycerol (Gly) has been made. Initially the volumetric productivity of Gly fermentation with Klebsiella pneumoniae bacterium was optimized for one and two continuous stages, where was necessary to study the multiplicity of stable steady states for the fermentation system selecting the conditions where higher concentrations of PD are found; and under optimal operation conditions the outlet PD concentration and the global yield are 0.4833 mol/l and 0.5481 molPD/molGly, respectively. For PD recovery from fermentation broth a no-conventional separation scheme was proposed, which consists first in a reactive-extraction with iso-butyraldehyde (iBAld) for produce 2-iso-propyl-1,3-dioxane (iPDOx) and water. The iPDOx is removed toward the organic phase by the aldehyde that acts simultaneously as reagent and solvent. The yield of reactive-extraction process is 85%. Finally Static Analysis (SA) for iPDOx hydrolysis system shows that is possible to obtain PD of high purity and recovery the aldehyde at the 88% in a reactive-distillation tower. SA also allowed obtaining the technological configuration of reactive-distillation tower and this technological synthesis was validated starting from simulations to both infinite/infinite and finite/finite (stages/reflux) conditions, using the ASPEN PLUS® software. For finite conditions the simulations showed that a conversion of 69% and 97.5% is reached for reflux ratios of 5.73 and 9.5 respectively.

HIGH PRODUCTION OF 1,3-PKOPANEDIOL FROM GLYCEROL BY Closhdium butyricum VPI 3266 IN A SIMPLY CONTROLLED FEDBATCH SYSTEM. Abstract: A simple fed-batch system which controls substrate feeding by measuring the CO, produced during the fermentation, was developped. This Fed-batch approach allowed high production of 1,3-propanediol from glycerol by Clostridium butyricum by avoiding substrate inhibition phenomena. 65 g/l of 1,3-propanediol was produced with a productivity of 1.21 g/l.h and a yield of 0.56. The concentration of 1,3-propanediol obtained and the productivity were significantly higher than those reached in batch culture.

CATALYTIC CONVERSION OF GLYCEROL AND SUGAR ALCOHOLS TO VALUE-ADDED PRODUCTS. Ph.D.Thesis.

Value-added Chemicals from Crude Glycerol

According to a new research paper, bBoth conventional catalysis and biological conversion can offer promising opportunities for the biodiesel industry to convert crude glycerol into a wide variety of value-added products.

A list of compounds that can be made via oxidation or reduction of glycerol are:

1. Tartronic acid (C3H3O5)
2. Dihydroxyacetone
3. Mesoxalic acid (Ketomalonic acid)
4. Glyceraldehydes
5. Glyceric acid
6. Malonic acid
7. Hydroxypyruvic acid
8. Lactic acid
9. Pyruvic acid
10. Propylene glycol
11. Propionic acid
12. Glycidol
13. Acrylic acid
14. Propanol
15. Isopropanol
16. Acetone
17. Propylene oxide
18. Propionaldehyde
19. Allyl alcohol
20. Acrolein
21. Hydrogen

Production of various coproducts via anaerobic fermentation of glycerol by clostridia:

1. 1,3-PDO
2. Acetic acid
3. Butyric acid
4. Lactic acid
5. Succinic acid
6. Butanol
7. Ethanol
8. Acetone

The fate of glycerin from biodiesel production

Glycerin, or glycerine, is a by-product of biodiesel production. Supply of glycerin in the United States and worldwide is projected to grow over the next decade as government policies and incentives favor increased processing of plant oils for production of biodiesel fuels (For every 9 kilograms of biodiesel produced, about 1 kilogram of a crude glycerin by-product is formed; ). Sooner or later, the amount of glycerin produced will exceed the amount consumed by the market today. The prices in the glycerin market will continue to drop and eventually, glycerin will become an environmental liability.

Currently, up to 10% of the dietary dry matter could be supplied by glycerol with no decreases in feed intake or alterations of performance in growing ruminants or lactating cows. However,
there are some concerns with glycerin as a feedstuff due to its contents of methanol and mineral salts such as potassium salts and phosphates.

Today, biodiesel production plants are in need of methods to realize increased income from this glycerol and solve the fate of glycerol as a by-product.

One of the potentioal solutions is to convert the crude natural glycerol to propylene glycol. Some of the benefits of this technology are to utilize the waste and produce propylene glycol from a renewable source raw material. Of course, this technology could be used in biodiesel production plants to increase profitability.

Making biodiesel: easy or challenging?

From this website: "Anybody can make biodiesel. It's easy, you can make it in your kitchen.."This process is so-called conventional chemical catalysts production and widely used nowadays.

From this paper: "Enzymatic production of biodiesel has been proposed to overcome the drawbacks of the conventional chemically catalyzed processes. The main obstacle facing full exploitation of the enzyme, lipase, potential is its cost". Is it a direction to make biodiesel?

Waste Coffee Grounds Offer New Source Of Biodiesel Fuel

ScienceDaily (Dec. 15, 2008) — Researchers in Nevada are reporting that waste coffee grounds can provide a cheap, abundant, and environmentally friendly source of biodiesel fuel for powering cars and trucks.

Algae: Can it be more effective for biodisel?

No doubt, algae has been a great feedstock to produce biofuel (biodisel) and attracted so much attention from researcher, industry, business people, investors, public policies, and goverment officials. Because of the 2008 Algae Summit, algae wind spread almost every corner of the world; algae is booming.

When talking algae about its potential being biofuel, , people may focus more on these facts: "algae can flourish in non-arable land or in dirty water, and when it does flourish, its potential oil yield per acre is unmatched by any other terrestrial feedstock". My question is: can we do the transgenetic modification by transfering the genes from high oil yield plants into algae to increase its oild yield? What are the technical barriers?