PLANT FUELS

PLANT FUELS
 PLANT FUELS
• A Fuel that is produced through contemporary biological
process such as “Agriculture”.
• It can be derived directly from plants or indirectly from
agriculture.
• Plant fuels are given below :-
• Coal
• Oil
• Natural gas
• Wood
• Roots
• Peat
• Bio diesel
• Ethanol
 Coal
• Coal plays a vital role in electricity generation
world wide.
• Coal fired power plants currently fuels 41% of
global electricity and in some countries coal fuels
as a higher %age of electricity.
• Coal is flammable black hard rock used as solid
fossil fuels .
• It is mainly made up of 65 to 95% carbon and also
contain H , N , S , O.
• It can be burned for energy or heat.
 Coal
• About 2/3 of the coal mined today is burned
in power station to make electricity.
• Among all the fossils fuels sources, coal is the
least expensive plant fuel.
 Vegetable oil
• It can be used as alternative native fuel in
diesel engines and in heating oil burners.
• Vegetable oil is used directly as a fuels in
either modified or unmodified equipments.
• It is referred as “ STRAIGHT VEGETABLE OIL”
(SVO) or “PURE PLANT OIL” (PPO).
• e.g canola oil is low in saturated fat
 Natural gas
• Natural gas is lighter than air.
• Natural gas is mostly made up of methane.
• Natural gas is a fossil fuel used as sources of
energy for heating, cooking and electricity
generation.
• It is also used as fuels for vehicles and as
chemicals food stock in the manufacture of
plastics and other commercially important
organic chemicals.
• It is lighter than air it is mainly made from
methane.
 Wood
• It constituted majority of biomass that comes from
firewood, charcoal, chips pellets and saw dust.
• Use of wood as fuel for cooking and heating.
• Today wood is even used in some electric generating
application.
• Wood is reasonably energy dense.
• Hard wood have an energy density of around 14 – 15 MJ
/ Kg if burned with 100% efficiency.
• Wood is actually more efficient then many fuels with
about 70% of energy content recoverable on average.
 Peat
• It is an organic fuel consisting of spongy
material by the partial decomposition of
organic matter.
• The development of peat is favored by warm,
moist climatic conditions however peat can
develop in old regions such as Siberia.
• Peat is only minor contributor to the world
energy supply but larger deposit in Canada
and China.
 Biodiesel
• It is a fuel made from vegetable oils, fats or
greases.
• It can be used in diesel engine without
changing the engine.
• Pure biodiesel is non toxic and biodegradable.
• Biodiesel is usually sold as a blend of biodiesel
and petroleum based diesel fuel.
• A common blend of diesel fuel is B20 which is
20% biodiesel.
 Biodiesel
• Biodiesel is the lowest emission diesel fuel.
• It can be used in any diesel engine when mixed with
mineral diesel.
• It is also safe to handle and transport because it is as
biodegradable.
• Generally, biodiesel made from vegetable oil does not
perform well in cold climates. Why is that? Since most
vegetable oil is high in saturated fat, ice crystals tend to
form in the biodiesel causing a car's engine to seize.
However, since canola oil is low in saturated fat, it is
harder for ice to materialize in fridge temperatures.
 Benefits of using Ethanol fuel
•Has complete combustion.
•Little CO2 formed.
•Does not contain sulphur.
•Emissions and pollution is reduced.
•Cheaper than gasoline and diesel.
•Keeps engine clean.
•Can be produced from grains and
sugarcane.
 Ethanol
• It is an alcohol fuel made from sugars found in
grains such as corn, sorghum and barely.
• Other sources of sugar to produce ethanol include
• Sugar cane
• Sugar beet
• Potato skin
• Rice
• Tree barks
• Switch grass
 Ethanol
• Most of ethanol fuel used in U.S is distilled from
corn.
• Scientists are working on ways to make ethanol
from all parts of plants and trees rather than
grains.
• Ethanol fuel is ethyl alcohol the same type of
alcohol found in alcoholic beverages used as a
motor fuel mainly as a bio fuels.
• The first production car running entirely on
ethanol was Fait 147, introduced in 1978 in Brazil
by Fait.
•Ethanol, whether it is made from corn,
wheat or sugarcane, releases less carbon
monoxide, nitrogen oxide and sulfur into
the atmosphere than gasoline.

•Ethanol also reduces smog, which can

minimize health problems for people,
especially those living in cities.