Biofuel - Biodiesel

Biodiesel is a renewable fuel made by a chemical reaction of alcohol and vegetable or animal oils, fats, or greases. Through a refinery process called **transesterification, the reaction removes the **glycerin — a by-product that is not good for your engine — which can be made into soap. Biodiesel can be used in any diesel engine in pure form or blended with petroleum diesel at any level. Even a blend of 20% bio- and 80% petroleum diesel will significantly reduce carcinogenic emissions and gases that may contribute to global warming.

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**Glycerin is a by-product of Transesterification. Initially, Glycerin molecules form the backbone of a vegetable oil molecule. However, during Transesterification an alcohol molecule binds itself to a fatty acid chain, thereby displacing the glycerin molecule. When a Glycerin molecule is completely separated from a molecule of vegetable oil it exposes three hydrophilic Hydroxyl groups. The presence of these Hydroxyl groups leads to Glycerin’s propensity to retain polar molecules such as water.

**Transesterification is the reaction that converts vegetable oil to Biodiesel. During this process an alcohol (usually methanol) attaches itself to the fatty acid chain of vegetable oil. The interaction between the fatty acid chain and the alcohol causes the break down of vegetable oil into Glycerin and Methyl Ester (Biodiesel)

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Refering Link : http://www.biodiesel.com

Oleh: Mohd Iznan B. Shamsuddin

Penyelidikan sawit perlu dimanfaat galak industri automotif tempatan bersaing

INDUSTRI bahan api berasaskan biofuel di Malaysia cukup berpotensi kerana segala kemudahan dan galakan sudah tersedia untuk tujuan ini. Proton sebagai peneraju industri automotif negara perlu mengambil langkah (more…)

Ethanol can be used as fuel for automobiles either alone or as an additive to gasoline.

Ethanol can be blended with gasoline in varying quantities to reduce the consumption of petroleum fuels, as well as to reduce air pollution. The resulting fuel is known as gasohol. Two common mixtures are E10 and E85 which contain 10% and 85% ethanol, respectively.

Ethanol is also increasingly used as an oxygenate additive for standard gasoline, as a replacement for methyl t-butyl ether (MTBE), the latter chemical being responsible for considerable groundwater and soil contamination. Ethanol can also be used to power fuel cells.
Ethanol derived from crops (bio-ethanol) is a potentially sustainable energy resource that may offer environmental and long-term economic advantages over fossil fuel. It is readily obtained from the sugar or starch in crops such as maize and sugarcane. However, current bio-ethanol production methods use a significant amount of energy compared to the energy value of the produced fuel. For this reason, it is not feasible to replace current fossil fuel consumption entirely by bio-ethanol.