Biodiesel Production from vegetable oil through transesterification process

By : Gautam parmarClass- T.Y, B.Sc(Biotechnology)

College- Shri M. & N. Virani Science College, Rajkot 360005, Gujarat

Preface

INTRODUCTION

• The term biofuel is used here to mean any liquid fuel made from Plant material that can be used as a substitute for petroleum-derived fuel.

• Rudolf Diesel firmly believed the utilization of a biomass fuel to be the real future of his engine.• Biofuels can include relatively familiar ones, such as ethanol made from sugar cane or diesel-like fuel

made from soybean oil, to less familiar fuels such as dimethyl ether (DME) or Fischer-Tropsch liquids (FTL) made from Lignocellulosic biomass.

• Four main production methods– Direct use and blending– Micro emulsions– Thermal cracking– Transesterification-Biodiesel was produced in the lab through the transesterification reaction, in

which vegetable oil and waste frying oil were separately reacted with methanol in the presence of an alkali catalyst (sodium methoxide) to form methyl esters (biodiesel) and glycerol.

• This process is usually carried out by heating an excess of the alcohol with vegetable oils under different reaction conditions in the presence of an inorganic catalyst.

INTRODUCTION

• This process is usually carried out by heating an excess of the alcohol with vegetable oils under different reaction conditions in the presence of an inorganic catalyst.

• The most commonly used catalysts are alkali hydroxides and alcoholates. Trans esterification is also possible under acidic conditions, but this process requires higher reaction temperatures.

• The trans esterification process consists of four steps: • 1) raw material pre–treatment; • 2) ethyl ester trans esterification;• 3) separation of the ester and glycerol phases; and• 4) purification of the ethyl esters.

CO

CH2 CH2 CH3OCH3

C

C

C

H OH

OH

H

OHH

H

H CH3

C

C

C

H O

O

H

OH

H

C

CO

O

O

H

C CH2

CH2 CH2

CH2 CH2

CH3

CH3

CH2

Catalyst (KOH)

Trigylceride

Biodiesel

Glycerol

3 CH3 OH 3

Glycerol

3 Fatty Acids

+ + Methanol

Figure 2. The reaction of a Triglyceride to Biodiesel and Glycerol

• The first two steps of this procedure require the addition of heat to the oil and its reacting apparatus, because the waste oil is solid at room temperature.

• Recommended reaction time varies from 1 to 30 hours, and some systems recommend the reaction take place at room temperature.

• Excess alcohol is normally used to ensure total conversion of the fat or oil to its esters. Care must be taken to monitor the amount of water and free fatty acids in the incoming oil or fat.

• If the free fatty acid level or water level is too high it may cause problems with soap formation and the separation of the glycerin by-product downstream.

• Once the reaction is complete, two major products exist: glycerin and biodiesel.• The glycerin phase is much more dense than biodiesel phase and the two can be

gravity separated with glycerin simply drawn off the bottom of the settling vessel. • In some cases, a centrifuge is used to separate the two materials faster.

Significance-Why?Significance-Why?• To encourage more and more use of biofuel as energy source for sustainable development.• To practice biodiesel production on lab scale for research purpose.• To understand the chemistry and composition of feedstock materials used the process.• To Minimize Storage Issues with Stability and Transportation issues with high cost of

delivered fuel compared to fossil fuels.• To learn about the challenges associated with biodiesel production.• To minimize ecological problems such as global warming, greenhouse effect, pollution.• To boost up a global debate on energy conservation and bringing up new ideas to produce

biofuels.• Develop design specifications and build a prototype system.• Encourage Government to Establish regulatory mandates for biofuels use to help launch

biofuel industries & consider direct grants for research, development and demonstration.

Properties studied• Density(g/cm³)-Is the weight per unit volume. Oils that are denser contain more energy.(0.87-0.89)• Viscosity(mm/³s)-Viscosity refers to the thickness of the oil. Viscosity affects injector lubrication.• Cloud point-The temperature at which the biodiesel first turns cloudy is the cloud point. This test is

important for winter fuel. (3-15 C°)• Temperature- It is the optimum temperature at which conversion of fatty acid into biodiesel takes

place.(35-40 C°)• Sulphur content- The percentage by weight, of sulfur in the fuel Sulfur content is• limited by law to very small percentages for diesel fuel used• Flash point-The flash point temperature of a fuel is the minimum temperature at which the fuel will

ignite. (110-130 C°)• PH- Normal PH of petro diesel should be between 6-7.• Water content-it is the amount of water present in petro diesel.It should be minimum between

(0.02-0.05).• Colour- This is a visual inspection of the finished biodiesel. Water free biodiesel will be clear and

will be of golden yellow colour• Pour point- Melt or pour point refers to the temperature at which the oil in solid form starts to melt

or pour.(-3to -8)

CURRENT STATUS & FUTURE POTENTIAL

• It is a cleaner burning replacement fuel made from renewable sources like new and used vegetable oils and animal fats.

• It would Encourage Government to Establish regulatory mandates for biofuels use to help launch biofuel industries & consider direct grants for research, development and demonstration

• A target of 20% blending of biofuels has been proposed both for biodiesel and bioethanol by 2017.

• A Minimum Support Price (MSP) to be announced for farmers producing nonedible oilseeds used to produce biodiesel.

• More R & D should be promoted in Research Centers and Universities for evolving better and efficient biofuel technologies.

• Registration fees and road tax exemptions for vehicles running on biofuels should be done.• Subsidies in the initial years should be given to promote alternative feedstocks which can

supplement ethanol production for blending requirements.• One of the Industry named khodiyar briquetteing machines produces biodiesel from

agricultural waste in rajkot.

Materials and method• Biodiesel feedstock include vegetable oils and waste frying oils, which contain triglycerides that are

needed to make biodiesel.• The use of this raw material can give a solution from an environmental and economic point of view.• Mainly waste vegetable oil is used for this purpose because it contains high amount of free fatty acids, can

be easily obtained from nearby restaurants, coffee cafe etc at cheaper rate.• Soybean , castor, sunflower, groundnut, rice bran, cotton oil are the vegetable oil either used or unused

one can be employed to obtain biodiesel.

Materials & Method

Purification of biodiesel produced

Results OIL AMOUNT OF

OIL (ml)

SOLVENT

AMOUNT OF SOLVENT (ml)

CATALYST AMOUNT OF CATALYST (gm)

REACTION TIME

TEMPERATURE

CONVERSION % (BIODIESEL)

CONVERSION % (GLYCERINE)

Soy bean 500 Methanol 100 ml NaOH 3.5 g 9 hrs 50 C 96 % 4 %

Corn 500 Methanol 90 ml NaOH 3 g 12 hrs 45 C 83% 17 %

Sunflower 500 Methanol 80 ml NaOH 2.5 g 14 hrs 37 C 92 % 8 %

Castor 500 Methanol 70 ml NaOH 2 g 11 hrs 25 C 80 % 20 %

Groundnut

500 Methanol 60 ml KOH 1.5 g 12 hrs 22 C 65 % 30 %

Cotton 500 Methanol 50 ml KOH 1 g 24 hrs 20 C 50 % 50 %

Rice bran 500 Methanol 40 ml KOH 0.5 g 30 hrs 10 C 40-35 % 60-65 %

PARAMETERS STANDARD DIESEL

CORN SUNFLOWER GROUNDNUT SOYBEAN RICE BRAN CASTOR COTTON

FLASH POINT (C°)

110-130 114 117 78 120 63 106 70

POUR POINT (Cº)

-3 to -8 -5 -6 -7 -4 -9 -2 -3

CLOUD POINT (C°)

3-15 4 7 5 6 3 9 2

VISCOSITY mm²/s

3.5-5.0 6.0 5.3 3.0 5.7 2.8 3.2 3.6

TEMPERATURE (C°)

35°-40° 33 35 27 38 32 34 29

pH 6.8-7.0 6.8 6.7 5.8 7.0 4.0 6.3 5.7

COLOUR Golden yellow

Golden yellow

Light golden creamish yellow

Dark golden Light yellow golden Creamish brown

DENSITY g/cm³

0.87-0.89 0.84 0.85 0.73 0.88 0.78 0.80 0.75

SULPHUR CONTENT %

0.3–0.5 0.005 0.006 0.009 0.003 0.00 0.007 0.002

WATER CONTENT %

0.02-0.05 0.03 0.05 0.06 0.03 0.07 0.04 0.08

x

Y

Y axis- Pour point °CX axis- biodiesel ml

01234567

Kinetic Viscosity mm²/s

X

yY- viscosityX-ml of biodiesel

Flash point °Cdiesel 50 130corn 50 114sunflower 50 106castor 50 70cotton 50 120groundnut 117soybean 50 63rice bran 50 78

Results• Soybean , sunflower, corn are one the most suitable vegetable oil to be used for the biodiesel

production because its stands with the standard values of petro diesel.• Maximum yield temperature was at -40 C in soybean • Low sulphur content was found- cotton• Optimum pH for process was – 6.8• Low Water content was found in- corn, soybean, sunflower.• High viscosity was found in- corn and sunflower.• Highest cloud point was found in- corn , soybean, castor• Highest flash point was found in- soybean, sunflower• Golden yellow colour similar to petro diesel was found in –corn, soybean.• NaOH as catalyst decreased the reaction hours and it was faster separation as compared to

KOH.• Longest reaction time was 30hrs in rice bran oil and was lowest & fast in soybean 9hrs.• Maximum amount of yield of biodiesel was in- soybean 90% • Maximum amount of glycerin was in – rice bran 60 %.• Better separation was obtianed through centrifugation as compared to water washing

Conclusion• Environmental Advantages of Bio-Diesel- * No aromatics, Renewable energy.• The engine emissions are sulphur free and the other exhaust components.• Presence of oxygen in the molecular composition• Higher viscosity leads to higher calorific value and biodiesel made from vegetable oils are biodegradable as

compared to petro diesel.• Better cloud and flash point temperatures are observed in biodiesel made from vegetable oils & enhance engine

performance.• Density of biodiesel made from Vegetable oils is higher than or eqaul to that of petro diesel and has more energy

therefore can replace the Fossil petro fuels• Has no harmful emissions.• Used vegetable oil collected from shops selling fritters can be used to produce biodiesel as it is not a food• source and is mostly thrown away.• The cost of production of biodiesel is higher than that of conventional fossil fuel. This is due to the fact that biodiesel

is generally produced from refined vegetable oil. The cost of production can be reduced if low cost feedstock is used such as used cooking oil collected from shops and food industries

• Lower value products are converted into high value products.• Glycerine produced can further be purified and can be used in cosmetic, preservant chemical industries.• .

References• 1. Santana A. et al, (2012), Supercritical carbon dioxide extraction of algal lipids for the biodiesel production, 20th International

Congress of Chemical and Process Engineering CHISA 2012 25 – 29 August 2012, Prague, Czech Republic,1755 – 1761.• 2. Hindryawati N. et al, (2014), Transesterification of used cooking oil over alkali metal (Li, Na, K) supported rice husk silica as

potential solid base catalyst, Engineering Science and Technology, an International Journal, 95-103.• 3. Ferreira et al, (2008), Biodiesel production from vegetable frying oil & ethanol using enzymatic catalysis, Bioenergy:

Challenges and Opportunities, 1-6.• 4. Kawentar W. A et al, (2013), Synthesis of biodiesel from second-used cooking oil, International Conference on Sustainable

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314.• 6. Sani W. et al, (2013), Multi stage Transesterifications of High FFA Feedstock towards a High Conversion of Biodiesel in A

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• 9. Elsolh N.E.M. et al, (2011), The Manufacture of Biodiesel from the used vegetable oil, Faculty of Engineering at Kassel and Cairo University.

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AcknowledgementThere are many people who have helped us directly or indirectly in the successful completion of our project. We would like to take this opportunity to thank one and all.First of all I would like to express my deep sense of gratitude towards DBT ( Department of biotechnology ).•I am also grateful to the Mrs. Shivani Patel(H.O.D) B.T department. Shri M. & N. Science College for allowing us to do the project on this immense emerging field of science.•Thanks to Mrs. Shweta Bhatt mam for their support and encouragement throughout the year.•Thanks to classmats for helping in the times of need.•Moreover we would like to thank our beloved parents for their support and belief in me.

THANX A LOT