Insects for biodiesel production

In this paper, the fat content of insects is studied for its utilization in the production of biodiesel. The study has shown the great fat potential of insects, highlighting a large number of species with an ether extract higher than 25%, including a large number in excess of 30% and some even reaching levels close to or above 77%. Moreover, a review of the main criteria to be considered for the selection of insect species for biodiesel production is carried out. It was observed that the fat content varies widely between orders, species, and their stages of development – larva, prepupa, pupa, nymph or adult – with the larval stage being that at which the most fat is accumulated. Furthermore, variations in the fat content were observed within the same species due to factors such as origin (wild or bred in captivity) or type of diet. This last factor is one of the most important to take into account for the selection of insect species with the objective of using their fat in the production of biodiesel. The principal conclusion of this study is that insects, through the development of their life cycle, can be fed with agricultural, industrial or urban by-products in order to accumulate a large amount of fat with potentially excellent quality (fatty acids C16–18), for conversion into energy through biodiesel production. Moreover, the resulting protein can also be used as a protein source in animal feed. Therefore, insects are a renewable source of protein and energy.     

Residual animal fat and fish for biodiesel production. Potentials in Norway

The potential for biodiesel production based on utilization of residual animal fat and fish in Norway is estimated. This is based on a study of the amounts of residual fat that is possible to recover from grease traps in Bergen. Additional data from Trondheim and Oslo facilitated up-scaling to estimating national potential for utilizing this residue stream for biodiesel production. This is supplemented with data on residues from slaughterhouses and poultry, as well as the fishing industry. The results indicate that Norway has the potential for producing large amounts of biodiesel from these residue sources.     

Biodiesel from low cost feedstocks: The effects of process parameters on the biodiesel yield

Biofuel (e.g. biodiesel) has attracted increasing attention worldwide as blending component or direct replacement for fossil fuel in fuel energized engines. The substitution of petroleum-based diesel with biodiesel has already attained commercial value in many of the developed countries around the world. However, the use of biodiesel has not expanded in developing countries mostly due to the high production cost which is associated with the expensive high-quality virgin oil feedstocks. This research focuses on producing of biodiesel from low cost feedstocks such as used cooking oil (UCO) and animal fat (AF) via alkaline catalyzed transesterification process investigating the effects of process parameters, for example (i) molar ratio of feedstock to methanol (ii) catalyst concentration (iii) reaction temperature and (iv) reaction period on the biodiesel yield. The biodiesel was successfully produced via transesterification process from low cost feedstocks. It was also observed that the process parameters directly influenced the biodiesel yield. The optimum parameters for maximum biodiesel yields were found to be methanol/oil molar ratio of 6:1, catalyst concentration of 1.25 wt% of oil, reaction temperature of 65 °C, reaction period of 2 h and stirring speed of 150 rpm. The maximum biodiesel yields at the optimum conditions were 87.4%, 89% and 88.3% for beef fat, chicken fat and UCO, respectively. The results demonstrate high potential of producing economically viable biodiesel from low cost feedstocks with proper optimization of the process parameters.     

Biodiesel production from oleaginous microorganisms

High energy prices, energy and environment security, concerns about petroleum supplies are drawing considerable attention to find a renewable biofuels. Biodiesel, a mixture of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) derived from animal fats or vegetable oils, is rapidly moving towards the mainstream as an alternative source of energy. However, biodiesel derived from conventional petrol or from oilseeds or animal fat cannot meet realistic need, and can only be used for a small fraction of existing demand for transport fuels. In addition, expensive large acreages for sufficient production of oilseed crops or cost to feed animals are needed for raw oil production. Therefore, oleaginous microorganisms are available for substituting conventional oil in biodiesel production. Most of the oleaginous microorganisms like microalgae, bacillus, fungi and yeast are all available for biodiesel production. Regulation mechanism of oil accumulation in microorganism and approach of making microbial diesel economically competitive with petrodiesel are discussed in this review.     

Optimization of ethanolic transesterification ultrasound‐assisted from oil mixtures utilizing Box‐Behnken design

Biodiesel is an alternative renewable fuel in the world energy matrix, originating from animal fats and vegetable oils from grains, such as the castor bean cultivated by family farmers in the Brazilian semiarid region. However, the production of biodiesel has some disadvantages. For example, it is difficult to use the same types of oil/fat all year round. In addition, the use of methanol in the biodiesel synthesis and agitation process results in a high consumption of energy. Given this background, this article proposes an alternative biodiesel synthesis using castor oil and peanut oil mixtures, ultrasound‐assisted in an ethylic route. The experimental conditions were optimized utilizing a Box‐Behnken design. The response variable was a biodiesel yield. In this work, it was possible to reduce the ratio of alcohol to oil and thus reduce the energy consumption and increase the mass yield. This permitted the generation of biofuel with lower production costs. Finally, the response surface methodology leads to operational conditions more suitable for the production of biodiesel. In this work, the best conditions were obtained using 0.50% catalyst concentration, 50/50 castor:peanut oil rate, and 5:1 alcohol:oil ratio. These were moderate and suitable conditions for the synthesis of biodiesel in comparison with the works found in the literature, reaching a high yield of 97.93%.     

The impact of the life cycle analysis methodology on whether biodiesel produced from residues can meet the EU sustainability criteria for biofuel facilities constructed after 2017

This paper considers biodiesel production from residues; tallow and used cooking oil (UCO). The tallow system is more complex involving two processes. The first process is rendering in which tallow (animal fat) and Meat and Bone Meal (MBM) are produced from the slaughter of cattle. MBM is assumed as a thermal energy source for cement manufacture and thus is not used for biodiesel production. The second process is biodiesel production from tallow. Three methodologies are employed to examine sustainability of the biodiesel. The no allocation approach assigns all the parasitic demands to the tallow; thus all energies required to make both MBM and tallow are associated with the tallow biodiesel. The resulting energy balance is negative. The substitution approach allocates the energy in MBM (used to produce cement) to tallow biodiesel. This results in the net energy being greater than the gross energy. The allocation by energy content method divides the parasitic demands of the rendering process between tallow and MBM by energy content. The parasitic demands of the biodiesel process are divided by energy content of the biodiesel, glycerol and K-fertiliser. For tallow biodiesel this yielded a net energy value of 38.6% of gross energy. The same method generated a net energy value of 67% for UCO biodiesel. More importantly the recommended method (allocation by energy content) generated a value of 54% greenhouse gas (GHG) emission savings for tallow and a value of 69% for UCO. Plants commencing after 2017, need to have a 60% GHG emission savings, to be considered sustainable. Thus a facility treating both feedstocks would need to treat a maximum of 60% tallow to be considered sustainable after 2017.     

Biodiesel production and de-oiled seed cake nutritional values of a Mexican edible Jatropha curcas

The scarcity of fossil fuels, in addition to environmental damage due to fossil fuel use and exploration, promotes research into alternative energy sources such as biofuels. Biodiesel has attracted considerable attention in recent years as an alternative to fossil fuels, since it is renewable, biodegradable and non-toxic. Biodiesel can be obtained from animal fat, vegetable oils including cooking oil. In this work, a method of producing biodiesel from seed cake waste from the edible Jatropha curcas L. plant was developed. Oil extraction using hexane gave the best oil quality. Transesterifications of approximately 95% were obtained by alkali or acid catalysis, and the obtained biodiesel products were successfully corroborated with NMR techniques. Since J. curcas is a non-toxic plant, the remaining de-oiled cake was tested for its nutritional properties. Nutritional analysis showed a content of 43% and 33% of protein and carbohydrate, respectively; suggesting that this waste can be used as an attractive protein and carbohydrate source for fermentation processes and/or for formulations for animal feeding. In conclusion, this work provides evidence that the oil from an edible and non-toxic species of J. curcas is an attractive option for biodiesel production with nutritional applications and negligible wasting.     

Biodiesel from cotton seed oil and its effect on engine performance and exhaust emissions

The use of biodiesel is rapidly expanding around the world, making it imperative to fully understand the impacts of biodiesel on the diesel engine combustion process and pollutant formation. Biodiesel is known as the mono-alkyl-esters of long chain fatty acids derived from renewable feedstocks, such as, vegetable oils or animal fats, for use in compression ignition engines. Different parameters for the optimization of biodiesel production were investigated in the first phase of this study, while in the next phase of the study performance test of a diesel engine with neat diesel fuel and biodiesel mixtures were carried out. Biodiesel was made by the well known transesterification process. Cottonseed oil (CSO) was selected for biodiesel production. Cottonseed is non-edible oil, thus food versus fuel conflict will not arise if this is used for biodiesel production. The transesterification results showed that with the variation of catalyst, methanol or ethanol, variation of biodiesel production was realized. However, the optimum conditions for biodiesel production are suggested in this paper. A maximum of 77% biodiesel was produced with 20% methanol in presence of 0.5% sodium hydroxide. The engine experimental results showed that exhaust emissions including carbon monoxide (CO) particulate matter (PM) and smoke emissions were reduced for all biodiesel mixtures. However, a slight increase in oxides of nitrogen (NO_x) emission was experienced for biodiesel mixtures.     

制备生物柴油所用催化剂的研究进展

生物柴油作为一种清洁的可再生能源,可以由动植物油脂通过酯交换反应来制备.本文概述了近年来制备生物柴油的多种催化剂,并探讨了各自的优点及缺陷.     

Toward prediction of kinematic viscosity of biodiesel using a robust approach

Especially by using a renewable source of fuels such as biodiesel, a large number of high-quality researches have been performed on the reduction of pollution released from fossil fuels. Transesterification process is a common way for the production of biodiesel from vegetable oil, animal fat, and algae oil in the presence of alcohol and catalyst. Viscosity is one of the important physical fuel properties used in the selection of biodiesel. Experimental measurement of viscosity is a time-consuming task. Hence, in this contribution, applicability and performance of two artificial neural network-based models named least square support vector machine (LSSVM) and genetic algorithm-radial basis function (GA-RBF) for the prediction of kinematic viscosity of biodiesel were investigated. Root-mean-square error, coefficient of determination (R²), and average absolute relative deviation of each modeling were reported for each LSSVM and GA-RBF models. Modeling results show that the proposed LSSVM model is more accurate and robust than GA-RBF model.     

Biodiesel fuels

The mono-alkyl esters, most commonly the methyl esters, of vegetable oils, animal fats or other materials consisting mainly of triacylglycerols, often referred to as biodiesel, are an alternative to conventional petrodiesel for use in compression-ignition engines. The fatty acid esters that thus comprise biodiesel largely determine many important fuel properties. In turn, the composition of the biodiesel depends on the composition of the parent feedstock because feedstocks with widely varying fatty acid composition can be used for biodiesel production. The use of different feedstocks is also significant under aspects of increasing biodiesel supply and socio-economic issues. In this article, biodiesel production is briefly described, followed by a discussion of biodiesel fuel properties and the influence of varying fatty acid profiles and feedstocks. It is shown that the properties of biodiesel least influenced by minor components can be determined by a straightforward equation in which the properties of the biodiesel fuel are calculated from the amounts of the individual component fatty esters and their properties. Optimizing biodiesel composition is also addressed.     

Biodiesel production from waste chicken fat based sources and evaluation with Mg based additive in a diesel engine

In this study, chicken fat biodiesel with synthetic Mg additive was studied in a single-cylinder, direct injection (DI) diesel engine and its effects on engine performance and exhaust emissions were studied. A two-step catalytic process was chosen for the synthesis of the biodiesel. Methanol, sulphuric acid and sodium hydroxide catalyst were used in the reaction. To determine their effects on viscosity and flash point of the biodiesel, reaction temperature, methanol ratio, type and amount of catalyst were varied as independent parameters. Organic based synthetic magnesium additive was doped into the biodiesel blend by 12 μmol Mg. Engine tests were run with diesel fuel (EN 590) and a blend of 10% chicken fat biodiesel and diesel fuel (B10) at full load operating conditions and different engine speeds from 1800 to 3000 rpm. The results showed that, the engine torque was not changed significantly with the addition of 10% chicken fat biodiesel, while the specific fuel consumption increased by 5.2% due to the lower heating value of biodiesel. In-cylinder peak pressure slightly rose and the start of combustion was earlier. CO and smoke emissions decreased by 13% and 9% respectively, but NO_x emission increased by 5%.     

Combustion of fat and vegetable oil derived fuels in diesel engines

In this article, the status of fat and oil derived diesel fuels with respect to fuel properties, engine performance, and emissions is reviewed. The fuels considered are primarily the methyl esters of fatty acids derived from a variety of vegetable oils and animal fats, and referred to as biodiesel. The major obstacle to widespread use of biodiesel is the high cost relative to petroleum. Economics of biodiesel production are discussed, and it is concluded that the price of the feedstock fat or oil is the major factor determining biodiesel price.Biodiesel is completely miscible with petroleum diesel fuel, and is generally tested as a blend. The use of biodiesel in neat or blended form has no effect on the energy based engine fuel economy. The lubricity of these fuels is superior to conventional diesel, and this property is imparted to blends at levels above 20 vol%. Emissions of PM can be reduced dramatically through use of biodiesel in engines that are not high lube oil emitters. Emissions of NO_x increase significantly for both neat and blended fuels in both two- and four-stroke engines. The increase may be lower in newer, lower NO_x emitting four-strokes, but additional data are needed to confirm this conclusion. A discussion of available data on unregulated air toxins is presented, and it is concluded that definitive studies have yet to be performed in this area. A detailed discussion of important biodiesel properties and recommendations for future research is presented. Among the most important recommendations is the need for all future studies to employ biodiesel of well-known composition and purity, and to report detailed analyses. The purity levels necessary for achieving adequate engine endurance, compatibility with coatings and elastomers, cold flow properties, stability, and emissions performance must be better defined.     

Application of Plackett–Burman design to screen the effective process parameters for biodiesel production

Significance of biodiesel is increasing forever because of increase in environmental pollution caused by fossil fuel and increasing of fossil fuel prices. Hence, the main goal of this study is to screen the effective process parameters for biodiesel production from chicken fat. Plackett–Burman (PB) design was used to screen the effective process variables among molar ratio, catalyst concentration (%), ultrasound power (W), mixing intensity (rpm), reaction time (min), temperature (°C), and moisture level (%). The obtained biodiesel quality is compared with American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standard methods. This result confirms the effectiveness of PB design to screen the effective process parameters for biodiesel production.     

Biodiesel and renewable diesel: A comparison

The search for alternatives to petroleum-based fuels has led to the development of fuels from various sources, including renewable feedstocks such as fats and oils. Several types of fuels can be derived from these triacylglycerol-containing feedstocks. One of them is biodiesel, which is defined as the mono-alkyl esters of vegetable oils or animal fats. Biodiesel is produced by transesterifying the oil or fat with an alcohol such as methanol under mild conditions in the presence of a base catalyst. Another kind of product that can be obtained from lipid feedstocks is a fuel whose composition simulates that of petroleum-derived diesel fuel. This kind of fuel, probably best termed “renewable diesel”, is produced from the fat or oil by a hydrodeoxygenation reaction at elevated temperature and pressure in the presence of a catalyst. This article discusses in a general and comparative fashion aspects such as fuel production and energy balance, fuel properties, environmental effects including exhaust emissions and co-products. Among the questions that are addressed are if these fuels compete with or complement each other and what the effect of production scale may be.     

第二代和第三代生物燃料发展现状及启示

第二代生物乙醇以生物质为原料,包括纤维素乙醇和纤维素生物汽油两种产品。目前已建有示范装置和/或工业装置的纤维素乙醇生产技术包括硫酸/酶水解-发酵技术、硫酸水解-发酵技术、酸水解-发酵-酯化-加氢技术、酶水解-发酵技术。业内专家认为,用酶替代硫酸水解是纤维素乙醇生产的发展方向。目前已经和准备进行示范装置试验的纤维素生物汽油生产技术包括快速热解-加氢改质技术和BioForming技术。第二代生物柴油主要以动植物油脂为原料,通过催化加氢生产非脂肪酸甲酯生物柴油,它是理想的优质柴油调合组分。生产第二代生物柴油的加氢技术包括加氢脱氧、回收丙烷和其他轻烃气体、脱水、异构化和裂化、蒸馏等5个步骤,主要有NExBTL可再生柴油生产技术、Ecofining绿色柴油生产技术、Haldor Topsoe可再生柴油生产技术、EERC可再生柴油生产技术。第三代生物燃料有两种:一种是以海藻油为原料生产乙醇、丁醇、喷气燃料和柴油,海藻培养(生长)和萃取海藻油是核心步骤,目前尚处于初期阶段;另一种是以生物质原料通过气化合成生产汽油、喷气燃料和柴油,重点是开发生物质气化技术,降低生产成本。我国应借鉴国外发展第二代和第三代生物燃料的做法,把技术开发工作做深做细做透,搞清楚原料的供应情况;目前我国生物柴油主要采用酯交换法生产脂肪酸甲酯,应考虑开发和采用加氢法生产第二代生物柴油,并努力扩大除麻风果油以外的原料来源;同时应加大海藻生物燃料和生物质气化合成生物燃料的开发力度。     

我国生物质能源现代化应用前景展望(四)——生物质能源转化生命周期分析

生物质种类不同,转化为运输燃料的途径也是多种多样,生命周期排放的温室气体和能耗也不相同。总结对比主要生物质转化途径的全生命周期分析(LCA)结果,有助于明确需要进一步改进的技术难题和方向。生物质转化为醇类燃料时,使用E85比使用传统汽油的碳排放明显下降,纤维素生化转化途径排放的二氧化碳当量值约为传统汽油的0.2~0.7倍,热化学途径约为传统汽油的0.6~0.9倍,玉米干法为传统汽油的0.8~1倍。油脂类生物质转化为酯类燃料时,生物柴油减排温室气体的效果,动物油脂地沟油、棕榈油豆油、椰子油菜籽油。动物油脂、地沟油生产生物柴油可减排温室气体70%~90%,以植物为原料的生物柴油可减排10%~90%。生物质转化为烃类燃料时,菜籽油基喷气燃料可减排温室气体13%~55%,F-T合成油比油脂加氢具有更好的减排效果,BTL通常可减排80%以上的温室气体,CBTL的减排效果与掺入生物质的比例有关,热解汽柴油的温室气体减排率为58%~70%。对于微藻生物燃料工艺过程,在微藻产率和含油量不太低的情况下,池子系统的温室气体排放低于石油柴油。     

Biodiesel production from inedible animal tallow and an experimental investigation of its use as alternative fuel in a direct injection diesel engine

In this study, a substitute fuel for diesel engines was produced from inedible animal tallow and its usability was investigated as pure biodiesel and its blends with petroleum diesel fuel in a diesel engine. Tallow methyl ester as biodiesel fuel was prepared by base-catalyzed transesterification of the fat with methanol in the presence of NaOH as catalyst. Fuel properties of methyl ester, diesel fuel and blends of them (5%, 20% and 50% by volume) were determined. Viscosity and density of fatty acid methyl ester have been found to meet ASTM D6751 and EN 14214 specifications. Viscosity and density of tallow methyl esters are found to be very close to that of diesel. The calorific value of biodiesel is found to be slightly lower than that of diesel. An experimental study was carried out in order to investigate of its usability as alternative fuel of tallow methyl ester in a direct injection diesel engine. It was observed that the addition of biodiesel to the diesel fuel decreases the effective efficiency of engine and increases the specific fuel consumption. This is due to the lower heating value of biodiesel compared to diesel fuel. However, the effective engine power was comparable by biodiesel compared with diesel fuel. Emissions of carbon monoxide (CO), oxides of nitrogen (NO_x), sulphur dioxide (SO₂) and smoke opacity were reduced around 15%, 38.5%, 72.7% and 56.8%, respectively, in case of tallow methyl esters (B100) compared to diesel fuel. Besides, the lowest CO, NO_x emissions and the highest exhaust temperature were obtained for B20 among all other fuels. The reductions in exhaust emissions made tallow methyl esters and its blends, especially B20 a suitable alternative fuel for diesel and thus could help in controlling air pollution. Based on this study, animal tallow methyl esters and its blends with petroleum diesel fuel can be used a substitute for diesel in direct injection diesel engines without any engine modification.     

我国生物质能源现代化应用前景展望(三)——生物质能源转化技术经济评估

秸秆、动植物油脂、微藻等生物质原料可以生产液体运输燃料,生物燃料的化学成分包括醇、酯、烃三类。燃料乙醇主要替代汽油,受到各国重视,其中纤维素乙醇技术发展较快。脂肪酸甲酯是第一代生物柴油的主要成分,价格主要受油脂原料价格的影响,由于和柴油相容性差,低温流动性不好,将逐渐被加氢生产的第二代生物柴油取代。相比醇、酯等含氧燃料,烃类生物燃料在使用性能上有很多优势。有多条技术路线可以生产烃类燃料,其中油脂加氢制喷气燃料已接近商业应用,热解油加氢可将木质生物质原料中的"木质素"组分转化为生物油,大型快速热解工厂可以和热电联产装置组成联合系统,从而提高工厂综合热效率,降低生物燃料生产成本。因此,快速热解生产汽柴油将成为主要的生物燃料生产路线。生物质与煤共气化技术通过提高气化温度,不仅可以提高生物质气化效率,减少焦油的生成,还可以解决生物质供给的季节性问题,为生物质的高效利用提供了一条新的技术途径。微藻高压液化生产柴油是最具发展潜力的第三代生物燃料技术,我国需要加强微藻养殖及加工技术攻关。     

Improved transesterification of waste cooking oil into biodiesel using calcined goat bone as a catalyst

In this study, potassium hydroxide-treated animal bones were employed? as a solid heterogeneous catalyst in transesterification of waste cooking oil. This catalyst was characterized by the Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and it displayed high-catalytic activity for biodiesel production. Optimum conditions for biodiesel production were catalyst loading 6.0% (w/w) of oil, methanol/oil molar ratio 9:1, calcination temperature 800°C, reaction temperature 65°C, and reaction time of 5 h, which gave maximum biodiesel yield of 84%. Reusability of the catalyst was also confirmed by repeated use of the same catalyst three times without losing much of its activity. Hence, calcined goat bones were found to be a potentially applicable catalyst for biodiesel production at industrial scale.