What’s the distinction between biodiesel and straight vegetable oil?

... International Petrochemical Technology and Petroleum and Equipment

Straight vegetable oil sounds easy sufficient: Grow a feedstock crop, run it by way of an oil seed press, and pour the resulting oil again into the gear you used to grow the gear in the first place. In any case, didn’t Rudolph Diesel exhibit his first engine burning peanut oil?

While it is feasible to run a diesel engine off of straight oil, there are some main advantages to converting this oil into biodiesel.

Straight vegetable oil (SVO) is mostly made up of triglycerides: These are groups of three fatty acids held together by a glycerin molecule. Not like the oil you purchase at the shop, the product coming out of a seed oil press continues to be crude. Alongside the triglycerides might be mono- and di-glycerides in addition to free fatty acids and phosphorus-based mostly waxes. The end product will need to be heated and filtered before use in most engines.

When making biodiesel the triglycerides within the oil are reacted with methanol and a catalyst; this breaks off the fatty acids from the glycerin and turns them into esters. Washing removes any remaining catalyst and waxes. The remaining esters are biodiesel. Since this fuel acts almost precisely like petroleum diesel it can be run in engines with none modification.

What are the benefits of biodiesel over SVO?

Increased circulation rate: Biodiesel’s viscosity much like petroleum diesel underneath normal operating temperatures. SVO should be heated before use and even then it nonetheless stays relatively viscous.

Decrease pour point: Vegetable oils drastically increase in viscosity as they get colder. Depending on the oil used, biodiesel has a pour point round freezing. If the fuel needs to be used in decrease temperatures anti-gelling brokers may be added to biodiesel. These brokers aren’t efficient on SVO.

Smaller molecule dimension: Biodiesel may be sprayed uniformly by trendy direct injection methods. Working straight vegetable oil in these engines requires an additional filtration system.

Purity: Waxes and other materials in straight vegetable oil can injury gas pumps, injection programs, and emissions gear. While biodiesel assembly ASTM requirements can legally be used in on-road vehicles, SVO is just not highway-legal in any type.

Direct compatibility with petroleum diesel: Biodiesel might be combined with petroleum diesel in storage or in fuel tanks, or can be used and saved by itself. Heated SVO programs should be run on petroleum diesel until the oil is heat.