INTRODUCTION

In recent times, the world has been confronted with an energy crisis due to depletion
of resources and increased environmental problems. The situation has led to the search for an
alternative fuel, which should not only be sustainable but also environment friendly. For
developing countries, fuels of bio-origin, such as alcohol, vegetable oils, biomass, biogas,
synthetic fuels, etc. are becoming important. Such fuels can be used directly, while others
need some sort of modification before they are used as substitute of conventional fuels. As
per an estimate, India consumed about 40.34 million tons of diesel in 2000–2001, which was
43.2% of the total consumption of petroleum products, and two-thirds of the demand was met
by import costing about Rs. 200 billion. With an expected growth rate of diesel consumption
of more than 14% per annum, shrinking crude oil reserves and limited refining capacity, India
will have to depend heavily on imports of crude.

From the point of view of protecting the global environment and the concern for long
term supplies of conventional diesel fuels, it becomes necessary to develop alternative fuels
compatible with conventional fuels. Diesel fuel is largely utilized in the transport, agriculture,
commercial, domestic, and industrial sectors for the generation of power/ mechanical energy,
and the substitution of even a small fraction of total consumption by alternative fuels will
have a significant impact on the economy and the environment. Of the alternative fuels,
biodiesel obtained from vegetable oils holds good promises as an eco-friendly alternative to
diesel fuel.

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 BIODIESEL

Biodiesel (fatty acid alkyl esters) is a cleaner-burning diesel replacement fuel made from natural,
renewable sources such as new and used vegetable oils and animal fats. Just like petroleum diesel,
biodiesel operates in combustion-ignition engines. Blends of up to 20% biodiesel (mixed with
petroleum diesel fuels) can be used in nearly all diesel equipment and are compatible with most
storage and distribution equipment.
Human greenhouse gas emission is a major concern these days. Though the amount of
CO2 emissions by mankind is relatively small as compared to the nature’s CO2 emissions,
this anthropogenic part is classified as climatically relevant. Therefore, the KYOTO Treaty
demands a considerable reduction of greenhouse gases. Oxygenated diesel fuels can be
obtained either by blending oxygenates to diesel or using bio-fuels. Recent surge in
petroleum prices have regenerated interest in bio-fuels. The development of biomass-based
diesel substitutes is an attractive proposition, as it helps to improve diesel fuel quality. The
fuels of bio-origin may be alcohol, vegetable oils, biomass, and biogas. Some of these fuels
can be used directly in the engine, while others need to be formulated to bring the relevant
properties close to conventional fuels.
Vegetable oils have almost similar energy density, cetane number, heat of
vaporization, and stoichiometric air/fuel ratio compared to mineral diesel fuel. However,
straight vegetable oils cannot be used directly in engines. Straight vegetable oils or their
blends with diesel pose various long-term operational and durability problems in compression
ignition engines, e.g., poor fuel atomization, piston ring-sticking, fuel injector coking and
deposits, fuel pump failure, and lubricating oil dilution, etc. The properties of vegetable oils
responsible for these problems are high viscosity, low volatility, and polyunsaturated
character. Several techniques are proposed to reduce the viscosity of vegetable oils such as
blending, pyrolysis, micro-emulsion, and transesterification, etc. Heating and blending of
vegetable oils reduce the viscosity but its molecular structure remains unchanged hence
polyunsaturated character and low volatility problems exist. It has been reported that
transesterification is an effective process to overcome all these problems associated with
vegetable oils.

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 Biodiesel is the name of a clean burning mono-alkyl ester-based oxygenated fuel
made from natural, renewable sources such as vegetable oils and animal fats. Biodiesel has
similar physical and thermal properties compared to conventional diesel fuel. Biodiesel is
compatible with conventional diesel and can be blended in any proportion with petroleum
diesel to produce a stable blend. Vegetable oil esters have superior fuel properties compared
to straight vegetable oils. They have lower viscosity, higher volatility, and lower un-
saturation. Glycerin is a valuable by-product of transesterification process, which is used in
pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Transesterification is a reversible reaction of fat or
oil (triglyceride) with a primary alcohol to form esters and glycerol. Alcohol combines with
the triglycerides to form glycerol and esters.

Biodiesel History

The concept of bio fuels is surprisingly old. Rudolf Diesel, whose invention now
bears his name, had envisioned vegetable oil as a fuel source for his engine. In fact, much of
his early work revolved around the use of bio fuel. In 1900, for example, at the World
Exhibition in Paris, France, Diesel demonstrated his engine by running it on peanut oil.
Similarly, Henry Ford expected his Model T to run on ethanol, a corn product. Eventually, in
both Diesel's and Ford's cases, petroleum entered the picture and proved to be the most
logical fuel source. This was based on supply, price and efficiency, among other things.
Though it wasn't common practice, vegetable oils were also used for diesel fuel during the
1930s and 1940s.
It was in the 1970s and 1980s that the idea of using bio fuels was revisited in the
United States. One of the most important events occurred in 1970 with the passage of
the Clean Air Act by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This allowed the EPA to
more closely regulate emissions standards for pollutants like sulphur dioxides, carbon
monoxide, ozone and nitrogen oxides (NOx). This set the stage for developing cleaner-
burning fuels. This also set standards for fuel additives.
Events overseas such as the 1973-1974 Arab oil embargo and the1978-1979 Iranian
Revolution, coupled with a decrease in domestic oil production, served to drive prices up.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration, U.S.
crude oil imports were cut by 30% during the embargo, and "the world price of crude oil

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jumped from around $14 per barrel at the beginning of 1979 to more than $35 per barrel in
January 1981 before stabilizing. Prices did not drop appreciably until 1983, when the world
price stabilized between $28 and $29 per barrel."
With petroleum prices increasing, researchers began to look elsewhere. In August
1982, the first International Conference on Plant and Vegetable Oils was held in Fargo, N.D.
This conference dealt with matters ranging from fuel cost and the effects of vegetable oil to
fuel additives and extraction methods.
In 1990, the Clean Air Act was amended and included more stringent restrictions on
vehicle emissions. The amendment introduced provisions for such things as increased oxygen
content in gasoline (which lowers carbon monoxide emissions) and lower sulphur content in
diesel fuels.
Government of India started Bio Fuel mission in 2003, but it announced Bio Fuel
Policy on 11th September 2008. The Union Cabinet in its meeting gave its approval for the
National Policy on Bio fuel prepared by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, and
also approved for setting up of an empowered National Bio fuel Coordination Committee,
headed by Prime Minister of India.

Biodiesel Blends
Blends of biodiesel and conventional hydrocarbon-based diesel are products most
commonly distributed for use in the retail diesel fuel marketplace. Much of the world uses a
system known as the "B" factor to state the amount of biodiesel in any fuel mix:

 100% biodiesel is referred to as B100, while

 20% biodiesel is labelled B20
 5% biodiesel is labelled B5
 2% biodiesel is labelled B2

Obviously, the higher the percentage of biodiesel, the more ecology-friendly the fuel
is. It is common in the USA to see B99.9 because a federal tax credit is awarded to the first
entity which blends petroleum diesel with pure biodiesel. Blends of 20 percent biodiesel with
80 percent petroleum diesel (B20) can generally be used in unmodified diesel engines.
Biodiesel can also be used in its pure form (B100), but may require certain engine

4
modifications to avoid maintenance and performance problems. Blending B100 with
petroleum diesel may be accomplished by:

 Mixing in tanks at manufacturing point prior to delivery to tanker truck

 Splash mixing in the tanker truck (adding specific percentages of Biodiesel and
petroleum diesel)
 In-line mixing, two components arrive at tanker truck simultaneously.
 Metered pump mixing, petroleum diesel and Biodiesel meters are set to X total
volume, transfer pump pulls from two points and mix is complete on leaving pump.

Applications of Biodiesel

Biodiesel can be used in pure form (B100) or may be blended with petroleum diesel at
any concentration in most injection pump diesel engines. New extreme high pressure (29,000
psi) common rail engines have strict factory limits of B5 or B20 depending on manufacturer.
Biodiesel has different solvent properties than petrodiesel, and will degrade natural
rubber gaskets and hoses in vehicles (mostly vehicles manufactured before 1992), although
these tend to wear out naturally and most likely will have already been replaced with FKM,
which is nonreactive to biodiesel. Biodiesel has been known to break down deposits of
residue in the fuel lines where petrodiesel has been used. As a result, fuel filters may become
clogged with particulates if a quick transition to pure biodiesel is made. Therefore, it is
recommended to change the fuel filters on engines and heaters shortly after first switching to
a biodiesel blend.

Distribution
Since the passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 biodiesel use has been increasing in the
United States. In the UK, the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation obliges suppliers to
include 5% renewable fuel in all transport fuel sold in the UK by 2010. For road diesel, this
effectively means 5% biodiesel.

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Vehicular use and manufacturer acceptance
In 2005, Chrysler (then part of DaimlerChrysler) released the Jeep Liberty CRD diesels from
the factory into the American market with 5% biodiesel blends, indicating at least partial
acceptance of biodiesel as an acceptable diesel fuel additive. [7] In 2007, DaimlerChrysler
indicated intention to increase warranty coverage to 20% biodiesel blends if biofuel quality in
the United States can be standardized.
Starting in 2004, the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia decided to update its bus system to allow
the fleet of city buses to run entirely on a fish-oil based biodiesel. This caused the city some
initial mechanical issues but after several years of refining, the entire fleet had successfully
been converted.
In 2007, McDonalds of UK announced that it would start producing biodiesel from the waste
oil by product of its restaurants. This fuel would be used to run its fleet.

Railway usage
British Train Operating Company Virgin Trains claimed to have run the world's first
"biodiesel train", which was converted to run on 80% petrodiesel and only 20% biodiesel,
and it is claimed it will save 14% on direct emissions.
The Royal Train on 15 September 2007 completed its first ever journey run on 100%
biodiesel fuel supplied by Green Fuels Ltd. His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales, and
Green Fuels managing director, James Hygate, were the first passengers on a train fueled
entirely by biodiesel fuel. Since 2007 the Royal Train has operated successfully on B100
(100% biodiesel).
Similarly, a state-owned short-line railroad in Eastern Washington ran a test of a 25%
biodiesel / 75% petrodiesel blend during the summer of 2008, purchasing fuel from a
biodiesel producer seated along the railroad tracks. The train will be powered by biodiesel
made in part from canola grown in agricultural regions through which the short line runs.
Also in 2007 Disneyland began running the park trains on B98 biodiesel blends (98%
biodiesel). The program was discontinued in 2008 due to storage issues, but in January 2009
it was announced that the park would then be running all trains on biodiesel manufactured
from its own used cooking oils. This is a change from running the trains on soy-based
biodiesel.

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Aircraft use
A test flight has been performed by a Czech jet aircraft completely powered on
biodiesel. Other recent jet flights using biofuel, however, have been using other types of
renewable fuels.

As a heating oil
Biodiesel can also be used as a heating fuel in domestic and commercial boilers, a mix
of heating oil and biofuel which is standardized and taxed slightly differently than diesel fuel
used for transportation. It is sometimes known as "bioheat" (which is a registered trademark
of the National Biodiesel Board [NBB] and the National Oilheat Research Alliance [NORA]
in the U.S., and Columbia Fuels in Canada). Heating biodiesel is available in various blends;
up to 20% biofuel is considered acceptable for use in existing furnaces without modification.
Older furnaces may contain rubber parts that would be affected by biodiesel's solvent
properties, but can otherwise burn biodiesel without any conversion required. Care must be
taken at first, however, given that varnishes left behind by petrodiesel will be released and
can clog pipes- fuel filtering and prompt filter replacement is required. Another approach is
to start using biodiesel as blend, and decreasing the petroleum proportion over time can allow
the varnishes to come off more gradually and be less likely to clog. Thanks to its strong
solvent properties, however, the furnace is cleaned out and generally becomes more
efficient. A technical research paper describes laboratory research and field trials project
using pure biodiesel and biodiesel blends as a heating fuel in oil fired boilers. During the
Biodiesel Expo 2006 in the UK, Andrew J. Robertson presented his biodiesel heating oil
research from his technical paper and suggested that B20 biodiesel could reduce UK
household CO2 emissions by 1.5 million tons per year.
A law passed under Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick requires all home heating diesel
in that state to be 2% biofuel by July 1, 2010, and 5% biofuel by 2013.

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 Properties of Biodiesel

Biodiesel has better lubricating properties and much higher cetane ratings than today's
lower sulphur diesel fuels. Biodiesel addition reduces fuel system wear and in low levels in
high pressure systems increases the life of the fuel injection equipment that relies on the fuel
for its lubrication.

The calorific value of biodiesel is about 37.27 MJ/L. This is 9% lower than regular Number
2 petro diesel. Variations in biodiesel energy density are more dependent on the feedstock
used than the production process. Still these variations are less than for petro diesel. It has
been claimed biodiesel gives better lubricity and more complete combustion thus increasing
the engine energy output and partially compensating for the higher energy density of petro
diesel.

Biodiesel is a liquid which varies in colour — between golden and dark brown — depending
on the production feedstock. It is immiscible with water, has a high boiling point and
low vapour pressure.

The flash point of biodiesel (>130 °C, >266 °F) is significantly higher than that of petroleum
diesel (64 °C, 147 °F) or gasoline (−45 °C, -52 °F). Biodiesel has a density of ~ 0.88 g/cm³,
higher than petro diesel ( ~ 0.85 g/cm³).

Biodiesel has virtually no sulphur content, and it is often used as an additive to Ultra-Low
Sulphur Diesel (ULSD) fuel.

The properties of biodiesel and diesel fuels, as given in Table 4, show many similarities, and
therefore, biodiesel is rated as a strong candidate as an alternative to diesel.

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This is due to the fact that the conversion of triglycerides into methyl or ethyl esters through
the transesterification process reduces the molecular weight to one-third, reduces the
viscosity by about one-eighth, and increase the volatility marginally. Biodiesel contains 10–
11% oxygen (w/w), thereby enhancing the combustion process in an engine. It has also been
reported that the use of tertiary fatty amines and amides can be effective in enhancing the
ignition quality of the biodiesel without having any negative effect on its cold flow
properties. However, starting problems persist in cold conditions. Further, biodiesel has low
volumetric heating values (about 12%), a high cetane number and a high flash point. The
cloud points and flash points of biodiesel are 15–25 8C higher than those of diesel.

Material compatibility

 Plastics: High density polyethylene (HDPE) is compatible but polyvinyl

chloride (PVC) is slowly degraded. Polystyrenes are dissolved on contact with biodiesel.

 Metals: Biodiesel has an effect on copper-based materials (e.g. brass), and it also
affects zinc, tin, lead, and cast iron. Stainless steels (316 and 304) and aluminium are
unaffected.

 Rubber: Biodiesel also affects types of natural rubbers found in some older engine
components. Studies have also found that fluorinated elastomers (FKM) cured with
peroxide and base-metal oxides can be degraded when biodiesel loses its stability caused
by oxidation. Commonly used synthetic rubbers FKM- GBL-S and FKM- GF-S found in
modern vehicles were found to handle biodiesel in all conditions.

Advantages of Biodisel

Biodiesel has several key advantages:

 Biodiesel is environmentally friendly.

 It can help reduce dependency on foreign oil ensuring energy security.
 It is a sustainable fuel.
 It produces less green house emissions.

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  It simulates agriculture and helps in rural development.
 It helps to lubricate the engine itself, decreasing engine wear.
 It can be used in almost any diesel with little or no engine modification.
 It is safer than conventional diesel.

One of the major selling points of biodiesel is that it is environmentally friendly. Biodiesel
has fewer emissions than standard diesel, is biodegradable, and is a renewable source of
energy.

B100 = 100% Biodiesel

B20 = 20% BD + 80% PD

Emissions control is central to the biodiesel argument, especially in legislation matters. There
are a few components of emissions that are especially harmful and cause concern among
scientists, lawmakers, and consumers. Sulphur and its related compounds contribute to the
formation of acid rain; carbon monoxide is a widely recognized toxin; and carbon dioxide
contributes to the greenhouse effect. There are also some lesser known compounds that cause
concern, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), ring-shaped compounds that
have been linked to the formation of certain types of cancer. Particulate matter (PM) has
negative health effects, and unburned hydrocarbons contribute to the formation of smog and
ozone.
Biodiesel does reduce hazardous emissions. Of the current biofuels, biodiesel is the only one
to have successfully completed emissions testing in accordance with the Clean Air Act.

Average Biodiesel Emissions Compared to Conventional

Diesel 
Emission Component B100 B20
Total Unburned Hydrocarbons -67% -20%
Carbon Monoxide -48% -12%
Particulate Matter -47% -12%
NOx +10% +2%
Sulfates -100% -20%

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 PAH -80% -13%
Source: National Biodiesel Board 

In addition, B100 can reduce CO2 emissions by 78 percent and lower the carcinogenic
properties of diesel fuel by 94 percent (National Biodiesel Board, U.S. DOE Office of
Transportation Technologies).

Another feature of biodiesel is that it is biodegradable, meaning that it can decompose as the
result of natural agents such as bacteria. According to the EPA, biodiesel degrades at a rate
four times faster than conventional diesel fuel. This way, in the event of a spill, the cleanup
would be easier and the aftermath would not be as frightening. This would also hold true for
biodiesel blends.
Biodiesel could also lower dependence on imported oil and increase our energy
security. With petroleum demands increasing and world supply decreasing, a renewable fuel
such as biodiesel, if properly implemented, could alleviate some of the energy demands.
Biodiesel also contributes to an engine's lubricity, or its ease of movement. Biodiesel
acts as a solvent, which helps to loosen deposits and other gunk from the insides of an engine
that could potentially cause clogs. Since pure biodiesel leaves no deposits of its own, this
results in increased engine life. It is estimated that a biodiesel blend of just 1 percent could

11
increase fuel lubricity by as much as 65 percent (U.S. DOE Office of Transportation
Technology).
Biodiesel is also safer. It is non-toxic (about 10 times less toxic than table salt) and
has a higher flashpoint than conventional diesel. Because it burns at a higher temperature, it
is less likely to accidentally combust. This makes movement and storage regulations easier to
accommodate.

Drawbacks of Biodiesel

Of course, nothing is without penalty, and biodiesel does have its drawbacks.

Incleased NOx Levels

One of the problems with the fuel itself is the increase in NOx in biodiesel emissions. Often,
in diesel fuel manufacturing, when you decrease the amount of particulate matter in the
emissions, there is a corresponding increase in nitrogen oxides, which contribute to smog
formation. Though some of this can be addressed by adjusting the engine itself, but that's not
always feasible. There are technologies being researched to reduce NOx amounts in biodiesel
emissions.

Behaviour as Solvent
Another problem is biodiesel's behavior as a solvent. Though this property is helpful, it's kind
of a double-edged sword. Some older diesel vehicles (such as cars made before 1992) may
experience clogging with higher concentrations of biodiesel. Because of its ability to loosen
deposits built up in the engine (which may be there from old diesel fuel), biodiesel can cause
the fuel filter to become jammed with the newly freed deposits. Biodiesel manufacturers
suggest changing the fuel pump shortly after switching to high-concentration biodiesel
blends. Components within these older fuel systems may also become degraded. In addition
to deposits within the fuel system, biodiesel also breaks down rubber components. Some
parts in the older systems, such as fuel lines and fuel pump seals, may become broken down
due to their rubber or rubber-like composition. This is usually remedied by replacing such

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components. Though many manufacturers have included biodiesel in their warranties,
potential for problems could still exist.

Low Temprature Gelling

When biodiesel is cooled below a certain point, some of the molecules aggregate and form
crystals. The fuel starts to appear cloudy once the crystals become larger than one quarter of
the wavelengths of visible light - this is the cloud point (CP). As the fuel is cooled further
these crystals become larger. The lowest temperature at which fuel can pass through a 45
micron filter is the cold filter plugging point (CFPP). As biodiesel is cooled further it will gel
and then solidify. Within Europe, there are differences in the CFPP requirements between
countries. This is reflected in the different national standards of those countries. The
temperature at which pure (B100) biodiesel starts to gel, varies significantly and depends
upon the mix of esters and therefore the feedstock oil used to produce the biodiesel. For
example, biodiesel produced from low erucic acid varieties of canola seed (RME) starts to gel
at approximately −10 °C (14 °F). Biodiesel produced from tallow tends to gel at around +16
°C (61 °F). There are a number of commercially available additives that will significantly
lower the pour point and cold filter plugging point of pure biodiesel. Winter operation is also
possible by blending biodiesel with other fuel oils including #2 low sulfur diesel fuel and #1
diesel /kerosene.
Another approach to facilitate the use of biodiesel in cold conditions is by employing a
second fuel tank for biodiesel in addition to the standard diesel fuel tank. The second fuel
tank can be insulated and a heating coil using engine coolant is run through the tank. The fuel
tanks can be switched over when the fuel is sufficiently warm. A similar method can be used
to operate diesel vehicles using straight vegetable oil.

BIODIESEL PRODUCTION

Biodiesel is prepared by a transesterification reaction between vegetable oil or animal fats

and methanol (or ethanol). In general, there are two methods of transesterification. One
method simply uses a catalyst and the other is without a catalyst.

Transesterification with the use of catalys has three basic routes:

 Base catalysed transestrification

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  Acid catalysed transestrification(used for oils with FFA)

 Conversion of oil to fatty acids and then to Easter by acid catalysis

Other method without using catalyst:

 Supercritical Methol Transesterification

There are several other methods for carrying out this transesterification reaction including the
common batch process, supercritical processes, ultrasonic methods, and even microwave
methods.
Chemically, transesterified biodiesel comprises a mix of mono-alkyl esters of long
chain fatty acids. The most common form uses methanol (converted to sodium methoxide) to
produce methyl esters (commonly referred to as Fatty Acid Methyl Ester - FAME) as it is the
cheapest alcohol available, though ethanol can be used to produce an ethyl ester (commonly
referred to as Fatty Acid Ethyl Ester - FAEE) biodiesel and higher alcohols such
asisopropanol and butanol have also been used. Using alcohols of higher molecular weights
improves the cold flow properties of the resulting ester, at the cost of a less efficient
transesterification reaction. A lipid transesterification production process is used to convert
the base oil to the desired esters. Any free fatty acids (FFAs) in the base oil are either
converted to soap or removed from the process, or they are esterified (yielding more
biodiesel) using an acidic catalyst. After this processing, unlike straight vegetable oil,
biodiesel has combustion properties very similar to those of petroleum diesel, and can replace
it in most current uses.
A by-product of the transesterification process is the production of glycerol. For every
1 tonne of biodiesel that is manufactured, 100 kg of glycerol are produced. Originally, there
was a valuable market for the glycerol, which assisted the economics of the process as a
whole. However, with the increase in global biodiesel production, the market price for this
crude glycerol (containing 20% water and catalyst residues) has crashed. Research is being
conducted globally to use this glycerol as a chemical building block.

Biodiesel Feedstocks

A variety of oils can be used to produce biodiesel. These include:

 Virgin oil feedstock; rapeseed and soybean oils are most commonly used, soybean oil
alone accounting for about ninety percent of all fuel stocks in the US. It also can be

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 obtained from field pennycress and jatropha and other crops such
as mustard, flax, sunflower, palm oil, coconut, hemp (see List of vegetable oils for more
information);
 Waste vegetable oil (WVO);
 Animal fats including tallow, lard, yellow grease, chicken fat, and the by-products of
the production of Omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil.
 Algae, which can be grown using waste materials such as sewage and without
displacing land currently used for food production.
 Oil from halophytes such as salicornia bigelovii, which can be grown using saltwater
in coastal areas where conventional crops cannot be grown, with yields equal to the yields
of soybeans and other oilseeds grown using freshwater irrigation
Many advocates suggest that waste vegetable oil is the best source of oil to produce biodiesel,
but since the available supply is drastically less than the amount of petroleum-based fuel that
is burned for transportation and home heating in the world, this local solution does not scale
well.
Animal fats are a by-product of meat production. Although it would not be efficient to raise
animals (or catch fish) simply for their fat, use of the by-product adds value to the livestock
industry (hogs, cattle, poultry). However, producing biodiesel with animal fat that would
have otherwise been discarded could replace a small percentage of petroleum diesel usage.
Today, multi-feedstock biodiesel facilities are producing high quality animal-fat based
biodiesel. Currently, a 5-million dollar plant is being built in the USA, with the intent of
producing 11.4 million litres (3 million gallons) biodiesel from some of the estimated 1
billion kg (2.2 billion pounds) of chicken fat produced annually at the local Tyson poultry
plant. Similarly, some small-scale biodiesel factories use waste fish oil as feedstock. An EU-
funded project (ENERFISH) suggests that at a Vietnamese plant to produce biodiesel
from catfish (basa, also known as pangasius), an output of 13 tons/day of biodiesel can be
produced from 81 tons of fish waste (in turn resulting from 130 tons of fish). This project
utilises the biodiesel to fuel a CHP unit in the fish processing plant, mainly to power the fish
freezing plant.

Biodiesel Yield

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Feedstock yield efficiency per unit area affects the feasibility of ramping up production to the
huge industrial levels required to power a significant percentage of vehicles.
Some typical yields

Algae fuel yields have not yet been accurately determined, but DOE is reported as saying that
algae yield 30 times more energy per acre than land crops such as soybeans. Yields of 36
tonnes/hectare are considered practical by Ami Ben-Amotz of the Institute of Oceanography
in Haifa, who has been farming Algae commercially for over 20 years.
The jatropha plant has been cited as a high-yield source of biodiesel but yields are
highly dependent on climatic and soil conditions. The estimates at the low end put the yield at
about 200 US gal/acre (1.5-2 tonnes per hectare) per crop; in more favorable climates two or
more crops per year have been achieved.[60] It is grown in the Philippines, Mali and India, is
drought-resistant, and can share space with other cash crops such as coffee, sugar, fruits and
vegetables. It is well-suited to semi-arid lands and can contribute to slow downdesertification,
according to its advocates.

Transesterification Reaction

Transesterification of vegetable oils with simple alcohol has long been the preferred
method for producing biodiesel. In general, there are two methods of transesterification. One
method simply uses a catalyst and the other is without a catalyst. The former method has a
long history of development and the biodiesel produced by this method is now available in
North America, Japan and some western European countries. The overall transesterification
reaction is given by three consecutive and reversible equations as below:

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The first step is the conversion of triglycerides to diglycerides, followed by the conversion of
diglycerides to monoglycerides, and of monoglycerides to glycerol, yielding one methyl ester
molecule per mole of glyceride at each step.
The overall chemical reaction of the transesterification process is:

where RI, RII and RIII are long-chain hydrocarbons which may be the same or different
with R=CH3/C2H5.

As seen above, the transesterification is an equilibrium reaction in which excess alcohol is

required to drive the reaction close to completion. Fortunately, the equilibrium constant
favors the formation of methyl esters such that only a 5:1 molar ratio of
methanol:triglycerides is sufficient for 95–98% yield of ester. It might be anticipated that in
such a system, glycerol would play a major role in achieving conversions close to 100%.
Several catalysts were tried for the purpose of transesterification by several workers, e.g.
magnesium, calcium oxides and carbonates of basic and acidic macro-reticular organic resin,
alkaline alumina, phase transfer catalysts, sulphuric acids, p-toluene sulphonic acid, and
dehydrating agents as cocatalysts. The catalysts reported to be effective at room temperature
were alkoxides and hydroxides.
During methanolysis, two distinct phases are present as the solubility of the oil in
methanol is low and the reaction mixture needs vigorous stirring. Optimum reaction
conditions for the maximum yield of methyl esters have been reported to be 0.8% (based on
weight of oil) potassium hydroxide catalyst and 100% excess methanol at room temperature

17
for 2.5 h. Glycerol phase separation does not occur when <67% of the theoretical amount of
methanol is used. The excess methanol, however, is removed by distillation. Traces of
methanol, KOH, free fatty acids (FFAs), chlorophyll, etc. Go into the glycerin phase, which
can be processed in two stages. Glycerin of 90–95% purity is obtained in the first stage and of
98% purity in the second stage. The basic process schematic of biodiesel production is given
in Fig. 2. The energetics have indicated that about 50 kW of electricity per ton of biodiesel is
required, of which 60–70% is consumed for the production of glycerin. The process requires
mixing of vegetable oil with a mixture prepared by dissolving KOH catalyst in methanol and
heating at 70 8C with stirring for 1 h. The mixture is allowed to settle under gravity. The
glycerin, being heavier, settles down in the bottom layer and the upper layer constitutes the
biodiesel (esters). The glycerin is separated and the esters are washed with water for catalyst
recovery.

The biodiesel layer is finally dried using silica gel and it is now ready for blending with
diesel in various proportions for engine operation.

Process variables
The most important variables that influence the transesterification reaction are:

18
  Reaction temperature.
 Ratio of alcohol to vegetable oil.
 Catalyst.
 Mixing intensity.
 Purity of reactants.

1. Reaction temperature
The literature has revealed that the rate of reaction is strongly influenced by the reaction
temperature. However, the reaction is conducted close to the boiling point of methanol (60–
70˚C) at atmospheric pressure for a given time. Such mild reaction conditions require the
removal of free fatty acids from the oil by refining or pre esterification. Therefore,
degummed and deacidified oil is used as feedstock.

Pretreatment is not required if the reaction is carried out under high pressure (9000 kPa) and
high temperature (240 ˚C), where simultaneous esterification and transesterification take
place with maximum yield obtained at temperatures ranging from 60 to 80 8C at a molar ratio
of 6:1.

2. Ratio of alcohol to oil

Another important variable is the molar ratio of alcohol to vegetable oil. As indicated earlier,
the transesterification reaction requires 3 mol of alcohol per mole of triglyceride to give 3mol
of fatty esters and 1 mol of glycerol. In order to shift the reaction to the right, it is necessary
to either use excess alcohol or remove one of the products from the reaction mixture. The
second option is usually preferred for the reaction to proceed to completion. The reaction rate
was found to be highest when 100% excess methanol was used. A molar ratio of 6:1 is
normally used in industrial processes to obtain methyl ester yields higher than 98% (w/w)

3. Alkali catalyst
For a basic catalyst, either sodium hydroxide (NaOH) or potassium hydroxide (KOH) should
be used with methanol or ethanol as well as any kind of oils, refine, crude or frying. In this
process it is better to produce the Alcoxy before the reaction to obtain a better global
efficiency. The alcoxi reaction is

19
 R2CH2OH + NaOH H2O+ R2CH2ONa
The alcohol–oil molar ratio that should be used varies from N= 1:1–6:1. However N =
6:1 is the most used ratio giving an important conversion for the alkali catalyst without using
a great amount of alcohol. The types of alcohol are usually methanol and ethanol. The last
one has fewer safety problems because it is less toxic.
The oils used could come from any vegetable, e.g., corn, canola, peanut, sunflower,
soybean, olive, palm, palm kernel. As you may see there are quite a few sources that can be
used as raw material and all of them are equally relevant only consideration is in the choice is
which has lower price on the market.
The amount of catalyst that should be added to the reactor varies from 0.5% to 1%
w/w but some authors prefer advice any values between 0.005% and 0.35% w/w should be
used. The last but not least important variable is the reaction temperature. The standard value
for the reaction to take place is 60˚C, but depending on the type of catalyst different
temperatures will give different degrees of conversion, and for that reason the temperature
range should be from 25 to 120˚C. The limits of this technology are due to the sensitivity that
this process has to purity of reactants, to the fatty acid, as well as to the water concentration
of the sample.
If you have too much water you run the risk of making some soap instead of the
desired product. If soap is the endproduct, a consummation of the reactive will take place and
the formation of an emulsion, that makes downstream recovery and purification very difficult
and expensive occurs.
A normal amount of free fatty acid on the waste cooking oils is about 2% w/w. If you
have an amount this big, Lepper and Friesenhagen recommend a pretreatment via
esterification with alcohol but with sulfuric acid. After this, we have to continue with the
normal alkali process.
4. Acid catalyst
This way of production is the second conventional way of making the biodiesel. The idea
is to use the triglycerides with alcohol and instead of a base to use an acid—the most
commonly used is sulfuric acid and some authors prefer sulfonic acid. This type of catalyst
gives very high yield in esters but the reaction is very slow, requiring almost always more
than one day to finish. Freedman and Pryde get the desirable product with 1 mol% of sulfuric
acid with a molar ratio of 30:1 at 65˚C and they get 99% of conversion in 50 h, while the

20
butanolysis will need 117 1C and the ethanolysis 78˚C but the times should be 3 and 18 h,
respectively.
As in the alkali reaction, if an excess of alcohol is used in the experiment then better
conversion of triglycerides is obtained, but recovering glycerol becomes more difficult and
that is why optimal relation between alcohol and raw material has should be determined
experimentally considering each process as a new problem.
The possible operation condition is, usually, molar ratio 30:1. The type of alcohol, as
well as the oils, is the same as the one that can be used in alkali catalyst reaction. The amount
of catalyst supposed to be added to the reactor varies from 0.5 to 1 mol%. The typical value
is 1%, but some authors have used 3.5 mol%.
The temperature range varies from 55 to 80 ˚C. The acid transesterification is a great
way to make biodiesel if the sample has relatively high free fatty acid content. In general, a
1 mol% of sulphuric acid is a good amount for a final conversion of 99% in a time around
50 h.

5. Mixing intensity
It has been observed that during the transesterification reaction, the reactants initially form a
two-phase liquid system. The mixing effect has been found to play a significant role in the
slow rate of the reaction. As phase separation ceases, mixing becomes insignificant. The
effect of mixing on the kinetics of the transesterification process forms the basis for
process scale-up and design.

6. Purity of reactants
Impurities in the oil affect the conversion level considerably. It is reported that about 65–84%
conversion into esters using crude vegetable oils has been obtained as compared to 94–97%
yields refined oil under the same reaction conditions. The free fatty acids in the crude oils
have been found to interfere with the catalyst. This problem can be solved if the reaction is
carried out under high temperature and pressure conditions.

Supercritical Methanol Transesterification

The simple transesterification process discussed above is confronted with two
problems, i.e. the process is relatively time consuming and it needs separation of the catalyst

21
and saponified impurities from the biodiesel. The first problem is due to the phase separation
of the vegetable oil/methanol mixture, which may be dealt with by vigorous stirring. These
problems are not faced in the supercritical methanol method of transesterification. This is
perhaps due to the fact that the tendency of two-phase formation of vegetable oil/methanol
mixture is not encountered and a single phase is found due to decrease in the dielectric
constant of methanol in the supercritical state. As a result, the reaction was found to be
complete in a very short time within 2–4 min. Further, since no catalyst is used, the
purification on biodiesel is much easier, trouble free and environment friendly.

Problems in Transesterification

Content of Free Fatty Acids

FFAs are present in oils and fats. There content is low in virgin oils(or fat) and high in low-
grade or waste oils. The high content of FFAs in oil poses a threat of soap formation in alkali
catalysed transesterification reaction. Reaction of FFA with alkali leads to soap formation
which causes excessive utilization of alkali catalyst, loss of yield, slower reaction, Incomplete
conversion. For best conversionof oils or fats FFA content should be lower than 0.8%

O
|| + KOH
HO - C - (CH2)7 CH=CH(CH2)7CH3

Oleic Acid Potassium Hydroxide

O
||
→ K O -C - (CH2)7 CH=CH(CH2)7CH3
+ -
+ H2O

Potassium oleate (soap) Water

22
Contamination by Water
Biodiesel may contain small but problematic quantities of water. Although it is not miscible
with water, it is, like ethanol, hygroscopic (absorbs water from atmospheric moisture). One of
the reasons biodiesel can absorb water is the persistence of mono and diglycerides left over
from an incomplete reaction. These molecules can act as an emulsifier, allowing water to mix
with the biodiesel. In addition, there may be water that is residual to processing or resulting
from storage tank condensation. The presence of water is a problem because:
 Water reduces the heat of combustion of the bulk fuel. This means more smoke,
harder starting, less power.
 Water causes corrosion of vital fuel system components: fuel pumps, injector pumps,
fuel lines, etc.
 Water & microbes cause the paper element filters in the system to fail (rot), which in
turn results in premature failure of the fuel pump due to ingestion of large particles.
 Water freezes to form ice crystals near 0 °C (32 °F). These crystals provide sites
for nucleation and accelerate the gelling of the residual fuel.
 Water accelerates the growth of microbe colonies, which can plug up a fuel system.
Biodiesel users who have heated fuel tanks therefore face a year-round microbe problem.
 Additionally, water can cause pitting in the pistons on a diesel engine.

Previously, the amount of water contaminating biodiesel has been difficult to measure by
taking samples, since water and oil separate. However, it is now possible to measure the
water content using water-in-oil sensors.
Water contamination is also a potential problem when using certain
chemical catalysts involved in the production process, substantially reducing catalytic
efficiency of base (high pH) catalysts such as potassium hydroxide. However, the super-
critical methanol production methodology, whereby the transesterification process of oil
feedstock and methanol is effectuated under high temperature and pressure, has been shown
to be largely Ounaffected by the presence of water contamination during the production phase.
||
CH2 - O - C - R1 CH3 - OH
| |
| O | O O
| || | || ||
CH - O - C - R2 + H2O >>> CH3 - O - C - R2 + HO - C-R1
| |
| O | O
23
| || | ||
CH2 - O - C - R3 CH3 - O - C - R3

Triglyceride Water Diglyceride Fatty acid

 BIODIESEL FROM JATROPHA

Jatropha (Jatropha curcas, Ratanjyot, wild castor) thrives on any type of soil

– Needs minimal inputs or management

– Has no insect pests, not browsed by cattle or sheep

– Can survive long periods of drought

– Propagation is easy

– Rapid growth; forms a thick live hedge after only 9 months of planting

– Yield from the 3rd year onwards and continues for 25-30 years

– Yield from established plantations in Brazil, 1.5 to 2.3 tons per hectare

– 25% oil from seeds by expelling; 30% by solvent extraction

– The meal after extraction an excellent organic manure (38% protein)

According to the National Mission on Bio Fuels out of 197 million hectors,13.4 MH available
for Jatropha plantation.

If 1 million hecatres of waste land is brought under jatropha cultivation it can yield 0.8-1
million tons of oil for transesterification. For production of 66.9 MMT diesel (Projected
2011-12), 13 MMT bio diesel for 20% blend is needed, which would require about11 MH
land and generate 11 million jobs.

24
 BIODIESEL IN INDIA

Indian BioFuel Policy was finally announced on 23rd Dec 2009. It gives a rough guideline,
which was actually proposed many years back. Main stumbling blocks are still not resolved.
There are no Figures or Financial commitments. Some of the points are

1. Plantations of trees bearing non-edible oilseeds will be taken up on Government /

Community wasteland, degraded or fallow land in forest and non forest areas.
Contract farming on private wasteland could also be taken up through the Minimum
Support Price mechanism proposed in the Policy. Plantations on agricultural lands
will be discouraged.

2. A major instrument of this Policy is that a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for oilseeds
should be announced and implemented with a provision for its periodic revision so as
to ensure a fair price to the farmers. The details about implementation of the MSP
mechanism will be worked out carefully after due consultations with concerned
Government agencies, States and other stakeholders.

3. Employment provided in plantations of trees and shrub bearing non edible oilseeds
will be made eligible for coverage under the National Rural Employment Guarantee
Program (NREGP).

4. The Minimum Purchase Price (MPP) for bio-diesel by the Oil Marketing Companies
(OMCs) will be linked to the prevailing retail diesel price.

5. Financial incentives, including subsidies and grants, may be considered upon merit
for new and second generation feed stocks, advanced technologies and conversion
processes; and, production units based on new and second generation feed stocks.

6. Bio-ethanol already enjoys concessional excise duty of 16% and biodiesel is

exempted from excise duty. No other Central taxes and duties are proposed to be
levied on bio-diesel and bio-ethanol.

7. Import of Free Fatty Acid (FFA) oils will not be permitted for production of biofuels.

25
India's biodiesel processing capacity is estimated at 600,000 tons per year. The government is
now likely to fix a price of Rupees 34 a liter for purchase of biodiesel by oil marketing
companies.
BioDiesel in India is virtually a non-starter. There are many reasons for that. The Main
Reasons are non-availability of vegetable oil and government's policies.

Non Availability of Oil

1. In India Edible oils are in short supply, and country has to import up to 40% of its
requirements (It is now partly offset by Bumper Crop of Soy). Hence prices of edible
oils are higher than that of Petroleum Diesel. Due to this, these are not viable and use
of non-edible oils was suggested for BioDiesel manufacture.
2. Even though the consumption of Edible oils in India is high, the availability of used
cooking oil is very small as it is used till the end.
3. Indian Culture uses vegetable oil lamps for lighting in homes and in temples (like
candles in other cultures). When prices of edible oil shot up, some people turned to a
bit cheaper non-edible oils. The requirement of this sector is more than 15 million
tons (BioKerosine). Since seeds can be collected and crushed in a small scale in far
flung villages, the use of non-edible oils for lamps is picking up very fast. This is the
best way of use for millions of Rural Indians. This is depriving BioDiesel industry its
supply of oil.
4. All over the world Edible oils are used for manufacture of BioDiesel. These are Rape
seed in Europe, Soy in Americas and Palm in South East Asia. Rape seed and soy are
used for its de-oiled meal as cattle feed and oil is not that important. Hence these were
in excess, and had to be disposed off at lower prices. Hence initially it was a viable
raw material for BioDiesel manufacture and a lot of manufacturing units came up
based on these oils. Now excess oil is committed, and fresh sources need to be
developed.
5. Collection of non-edible oil seeds is a manual operation, and for large BioDiesel plant
it is a logistical nightmare. In a day, a person can collect up to 80 kilograms of seeds,
which can produce 20 to 23 liters of oil. The collection is done for 3 months, once or
twice a year. For a 100 tons per day (8 million gallons per year) plant, you need
15,000 people to collect it. Collecting and organizing such a large manpower is a
challenge.

26
6. The price of Seeds of Jatropha is currently very high because most of it is used for
plantation purposes. At this price, the manufacturing cost of BioDiesel is 3 times the
pump price of Petroleum Diesel.
7. Most of the edible oils used currently are Stable (do not get rancid). These do not
decompose much on storage. Hence these are preferred for Trans-Esterification
Process. Non-Edible oils are not that stable, and need a lot of pre-treatment adding to
the cost of manufacture of BioDiesel. If these are used as lamp oil, even oils with 50%
free fatty acids can be used.
8. The use of lamp oil is increasing rapidly in India, as there is no electrical power
supply for 10 to 14 hours a day in rural areas. Soon people will face shortage of these
oils for lighting purposes.
9. Cottage soap industry can use vegetable oils with high free fatty acid contents. Since
prices of edible oils have doubled, many soap manufacturers in unorganized sector are
using these oils as these are a bit cheaper.
10. There are billions of other trees (Karanj, Mahua, Neem), all over India, with oil
bearing seeds. Traditionally Karanj (Pongamia Pinatta) is planted along the highways.
Petrol Pump owners along the highways, should be encouraged to collect the Karanj
seeds. Neem (Azadirachta Indica) is planted everywhere for purification of air. Mahua
(Madhuca Indica) and Sal ( Shorea robusta) grows wildly in Forests. Collection and
processing mechanism for these seeds is not yet developed. Hence a most of these
seeds lie on the ground (and ultimately get converted into BioFertilizer).

Government's Policies

1. Government of India started BioFuel mission in 2003, but it announced BioFuel

Policy on 11th September 2008. The Union Cabinet in its meeting gave its approval
for the National Policy on Biofuel prepared by the Ministry of New and Renewable
Energy, and also approved for setting up of an empowered National Biofuel
Coordination Committee, headed by Prime Minister of India and a Biofuel Steering
Committee headed by Cabinet Secretary.
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has been given the responsibility for the
National Policy on Biofuels and overall co-ordination by Prime Minister under the
Allocation of Business Rules. A proposal on “National Policy on Biofuels & its
Implementation” was prepared after wide scale consultations and inter-Ministerial

27
deliberations. The draft Policy was considered by a Group of Ministers (GoM) under
the Chairmanship of Shri Sharad Pawar, Union Minister of Agriculture, Food &
Public Distribution. After considering the suggestions of Planning Commission and
other Members, the Group of Ministers recommended the National Biofuel Policy to
the Cabinet.
Salient features of the National Biofuel Policy are as under:

 An indicative target of 20% by 2017 for the blending of biofuels – bioethanol

and bio-diesel has been proposed.
 Bio-diesel production will be taken up from non-edible oil seeds in waste /
degraded / marginal lands.
 The focus would be on indigenous production of bio-diesel feedstock and
import of Free Fatty Acid (FFA) based such as oil, palm etc. would not be
permitted.
 Bio-diesel plantations on community / Government / forest waste lands would
be encouraged while plantation in fertile irrigated lands would not be
encouraged.
 Minimum Support Price (MSP) with the provision of periodic revision for bio-
diesel oil seeds would be announced to provide fair price to the growers. The
details about the MSP mechanism, enshrined in the National Biofuel Policy,
would be worked out carefully subsequently and considered by the Bio-fuel
Steering Committee.
 Minimum Purchase Price (MPP) for the purchase of bio-ethanol by the Oil
Marketing Companies (OMCs) would be based on the actual cost of
production and import price of bio-ethanol. In case of biodiesel, the MPP
should be linked to the prevailing retail diesel price.
 The National Biofuel Policy envisages that bio-fuels, namely, biodiesel and
bio-ethanol may be brought under the ambit of “Declared Goods” by the
Government to ensure unrestricted movement of biofuels within and outside
the States. It is also stated in the Policy that no taxes and duties should be
levied on bio-diesel.

28
2. Oil companies had declared their own BioDiesel Purchase Policy. These companies
are now ready to offer a price of Rupees 34.00 per liter of BioDiesel, which is still
less than the current manufacturing cost of BioDiesel.
3. Large patches of land are required for plantation of Jatropha. Government holds large
tracts of land as Forest Lands and Revenue lands. In some states, like Chattisgarh,
these are leased to State owned Oil company like IOC.
4. UP Jatropha mission of Uttar Pradesh is a Joint venture of BPCL, Nandan Biomatrics
and Shapoorji Pallonji and is supported by UP Government. Presently, they are going
to tie-up with every Panchayat (Local Body) of selected Districts to plant Jatropha on
Panchayat lands. Jatropha seeds will be bought back by BPCL in long run. Operation
of this mission may be very slow due to Government's and Panchayat's involvement
and because it is implemented through National Rural Employment Guarantee
Scheme. IOC is also planning to enter in UP as well as some others. Individual
farmers are ready to plant Jatropha in their useless and waste lands and want buy-back
agreement like contract farming with good price (But price offered is generally very
low). Bundel khand has lots of waste land (600,000 - 700,000 hectares) which are best
suited for Jatropha and on the other hand Districts of Eastern UP have saline and
waste lands which are also suitable for plantation.

29
 CONCLUSION

Alternate fuels for diesel engines have become increasingly important due to
diminishing petroleum reserves and awareness of the increased environmental consequences
of emissions from petroleum-fuelled engines. A number of studies have shown that
triglycerides (vegetable oils/animal fats) hold promise as alternative fuels for diesel engines.
However, the high viscosity, low volatility and poor cold flow properties of triglycerides,
which result in severe engine deposits, injector coking and piston ring sticking, have
prevented them from being used directly in diesel engines. One way to improve the fuel
properties of triglycerides is the catalytic transesterification of triglycerides with alcohols to
form monoalkyl esters of long-chain fatty acids, and another method is the supercritical
method of producing biodiesel, which is quite similar to hydrocarbon-based diesel fuels in its
main characteristics and provides similar engine performance with low emission levels unlike
fossil fuels. Economic feasibility study shows that the biodiesel obtained from non-edible oils
is cheaper than that from edible oils.
Vegetable oils and biodiesel hold great promise as substitutes of diesel in existing
diesel engines without any modification. The partial or full replacement of diesel with
biodiesel will relieve the pressure on existing diesel oil resources as well as conserve a lot of
diesel fuel, thereby saving substantial money.
Edible and non-edible oil and animal fats can be used to produce biodiesel. Non-
edible oils find great promise as biodiesel, and hence there is a need to grow high yielding
non-edible oil seed crops on arable and non-arable lands.
There are two methods for the production of biodiesel—simple transesterification and
the supercritical methanol transesterification method. The latter method has greater scope for
the production of biodiesel than the former, because the yield and product quality are superior
and the time consumed in conversion is much less. There is, thus, good scope for the
development of the supercritical transesterification method.
Techno-economic feasibility study indicates that the cost of biodiesel derived from
linseed oil is the cheapest (Rs. 13.56 per litre) and that from sesame oil is the costliest (Rs. 54
per litre), compared to the diesel cost of Rs. 22.00 per litre. It is expected that the production
of biodiesel from vegetable oils will be technically and economically more feasible provided
the cost of vegetable oils comes down substantially in the country.

30
 REFRENCES

1. Alok Kumar Tiwari, Akhilesh Kumar, Hifjur Raheman Biodiesel production from
jatropha oil (Jatropha curcas) with high free
2. fatty acids: An optimized process
3. Shashikant Vilas Ghadge, Hifjur Raheman Process optimization for biodiesel
production from mahua (Madhuca indica) oil using response surface methodology
4. J.M. Marchetti_, V.U. Miguel, A.F. Errazu Possible methods for biodiesel
productionB.K. Barnwal*, M.P. Sharma Prospects of biodiesel production from
vegetable oils in India
5. Satish Lele an article on; “Biodiesel in India”(use Google)
6. Van Gerpen et al. “Biodiesel production technology: Aug 02-Jan 04” NREL/SR-510-
36244 (use Google)
7. [PDF] “Biodiesel Report Outline”
8. Cao et al. “Preparation of biodiesel from soybean oil using supercritical methanol and
co-solvent” Fuel, 84, 2005 p347-351
9. Websites used:
 http://www.google.com
 http://www.en.wikipedia.org
 http://www.sciencedirect.com
 http://www.scribd.com
 http://www.howstuffswork.com
 http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com

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