Biodiesel – Need of Modern India
Whether it's in automotives, economics or politics, oil touches almost every aspect of our lives. Electric cars and hydrogen fuel cells are being considered as feasible alternatives to oil. That may happen later but for now it is Bio-Diesel
/>Biodiesel is a clean burning alternate fuel, produced from renewable resources like virgin or used vegetable oils, both edible and non-edible. It can be used in compression-ignition (diesel) engines with little or no modifications. Biodiesel is simple to use, biodegradable, nontoxic, and essentially free of sulphur and aromatics. It can be stored just like petroleum diesel fuel and hence does not require a separate infrastructure. Its higher cetane number improves the ignition quality even when blended in petroleum diesel.
/>In the process of exchanging the alkoxy group (is an alkyl group linked to oxygen) of an ester compound (are organic compounds in which an organic group replaces a hydrogen atom) by another alcohol of a vegetable oil, termed as transesterified. This was conducted as early as 1853 by scientists E. Duffy and J. Patrick, many years before the first diesel engine became functional by Rudolf Diesel. This engine stood as an example of Diesel’s vision because it was powered by peanut oil — a biofuel, though not biodiesel, since it was not transesterified. He believed that the utilization of biomass fuel was the real future of his engine.
/>All diesel fuel injection equipment rely on diesel fuel as a lubricant to some extent. When sulphur is reduced in diesel to improve emissions, the lubricity of diesel decreases. Low lubricity fuel may cause high wear, scarring and fuel pump failure. The lubricity of diesel is especially poor when the sulphur level is below 500 PPM. It has been observed that addition of biodiesel in small amounts (1-2%) can restore the lubricity to low sulphur diesel to protect engine components as well as the emission standards.
/>Around the world, many countries have provided legislative support and have initiated 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). It may be noted that the feedstock for the production of biodiesel in the EU and US is vegetable oils - soyabean oil in the US, and sunflower and rapeseed in the EU. The major objectives of the EU renewable fuel program include reduction on dependency on crude oil and achievement of greenhouse gas reduction by 8% .
/>Biodiesel can be used easily without major modifications in the vehicle engine, unlike CNG, LPG and ethanol. Unlike biodiesel, CNG, LNG and ethanol needs separate storage and dispensing arrangements. Biodiesel is safe to handle, and its flash point is higher than conventional diesel, hence more efficient.
/>Its not that Indian government has not taken any steps in this direction, the Indian Railways are the largest users of diesel and also own large areas of land, presently without organized plantation. The Railways have shown an interest in planting these bio-crops along the rail tracks. The rail line between Mumbai and Delhi is planted with Jatropha and the train itself runs on 15-20% biodiesel. This may serve two objectives - lowering emissions and providing enough lubricity to the diesel.
/>Jatropha curcas, also called physic nut, is used to produce the non-edible Jatropha oil, for making candles and soap, and as a major ingredient in the production of biodiesel. The trees produce 1600 liters of oil per hectare. The cakes remaining after the oil is pressed can be used as feed in digesters and gasifiers to produce biogas for cooking and in engines, or the cakes can be used for fertilizing, and sometimes even as animal fodder, alternatively, the entire seed (with oil) can be used in digesters to produce biogas. Large plantings and nurseries of this tree have been undertaken in India by numerous research institutions, and by women’s Self Help Groups, who use a system of microcredit to ease poverty among the nation’s semi-literate population of women. Extracts from this species have also been shown to have anti-tumor activity. The seeds can be used as a remedy for constipation, wounds can be dressed with the sap, and the leaves can be boiled to obtain a malaria and fever remedy.
/>Biodiesel is a highly profitable and futuristic business; a bio-diesel extractor can produce some 08 Ton to 10 Ton (In 24 Hours). Government of India has implemented policies to ease the procedure to setup own power producing business. Various soft loans are available for many banks to setup your own biodiesel plant. The fuel produced can be sold in the open market. Some of the big corporate houses planning to invest in Bio-diesel industry are Reliance Industries Ltd , TATA BP, Emami Ltd and Godrej Agrovet Ltd to name a few.
/>Bio-diesel is one area which can transform the scenario in the Indian oil sector. With the limited experience of Bio-diesel in the country and elsewhere, we can understand its potential and also problems associated with it. With the concerted effort in R both in production and processing, facilitation by government, large scale initiative from the private sector and self-help groups, hassle free financial support from financial institutions. In the near future we will be able to conquer our crude oil need which is our major foreign exchange drain…
Technorati Tags: biodiesel
/>Biodiesel is a clean burning alternate fuel, produced from renewable resources like virgin or used vegetable oils, both edible and non-edible. It can be used in compression-ignition (diesel) engines with little or no modifications. Biodiesel is simple to use, biodegradable, nontoxic, and essentially free of sulphur and aromatics. It can be stored just like petroleum diesel fuel and hence does not require a separate infrastructure. Its higher cetane number improves the ignition quality even when blended in petroleum diesel.
/>In the process of exchanging the alkoxy group (is an alkyl group linked to oxygen) of an ester compound (are organic compounds in which an organic group replaces a hydrogen atom) by another alcohol of a vegetable oil, termed as transesterified. This was conducted as early as 1853 by scientists E. Duffy and J. Patrick, many years before the first diesel engine became functional by Rudolf Diesel. This engine stood as an example of Diesel’s vision because it was powered by peanut oil — a biofuel, though not biodiesel, since it was not transesterified. He believed that the utilization of biomass fuel was the real future of his engine.
/>All diesel fuel injection equipment rely on diesel fuel as a lubricant to some extent. When sulphur is reduced in diesel to improve emissions, the lubricity of diesel decreases. Low lubricity fuel may cause high wear, scarring and fuel pump failure. The lubricity of diesel is especially poor when the sulphur level is below 500 PPM. It has been observed that addition of biodiesel in small amounts (1-2%) can restore the lubricity to low sulphur diesel to protect engine components as well as the emission standards.
/>Around the world, many countries have provided legislative support and have initiated 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). It may be noted that the feedstock for the production of biodiesel in the EU and US is vegetable oils - soyabean oil in the US, and sunflower and rapeseed in the EU. The major objectives of the EU renewable fuel program include reduction on dependency on crude oil and achievement of greenhouse gas reduction by 8% .
/>Biodiesel can be used easily without major modifications in the vehicle engine, unlike CNG, LPG and ethanol. Unlike biodiesel, CNG, LNG and ethanol needs separate storage and dispensing arrangements. Biodiesel is safe to handle, and its flash point is higher than conventional diesel, hence more efficient.
/>Its not that Indian government has not taken any steps in this direction, the Indian Railways are the largest users of diesel and also own large areas of land, presently without organized plantation. The Railways have shown an interest in planting these bio-crops along the rail tracks. The rail line between Mumbai and Delhi is planted with Jatropha and the train itself runs on 15-20% biodiesel. This may serve two objectives - lowering emissions and providing enough lubricity to the diesel.
/>Jatropha curcas, also called physic nut, is used to produce the non-edible Jatropha oil, for making candles and soap, and as a major ingredient in the production of biodiesel. The trees produce 1600 liters of oil per hectare. The cakes remaining after the oil is pressed can be used as feed in digesters and gasifiers to produce biogas for cooking and in engines, or the cakes can be used for fertilizing, and sometimes even as animal fodder, alternatively, the entire seed (with oil) can be used in digesters to produce biogas. Large plantings and nurseries of this tree have been undertaken in India by numerous research institutions, and by women’s Self Help Groups, who use a system of microcredit to ease poverty among the nation’s semi-literate population of women. Extracts from this species have also been shown to have anti-tumor activity. The seeds can be used as a remedy for constipation, wounds can be dressed with the sap, and the leaves can be boiled to obtain a malaria and fever remedy.
/>Biodiesel is a highly profitable and futuristic business; a bio-diesel extractor can produce some 08 Ton to 10 Ton (In 24 Hours). Government of India has implemented policies to ease the procedure to setup own power producing business. Various soft loans are available for many banks to setup your own biodiesel plant. The fuel produced can be sold in the open market. Some of the big corporate houses planning to invest in Bio-diesel industry are Reliance Industries Ltd , TATA BP, Emami Ltd and Godrej Agrovet Ltd to name a few.
/>Bio-diesel is one area which can transform the scenario in the Indian oil sector. With the limited experience of Bio-diesel in the country and elsewhere, we can understand its potential and also problems associated with it. With the concerted effort in R both in production and processing, facilitation by government, large scale initiative from the private sector and self-help groups, hassle free financial support from financial institutions. In the near future we will be able to conquer our crude oil need which is our major foreign exchange drain…
Technorati Tags: biodiesel
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