Feature R ecent advancements in distillation and blending technologies are being widely recognised as influencing the global proliferation of Biofuels. The idea of Biofuels is not new; in fact Rudolf Diesel envisaged the significance of Bio-fuels back in the 19th century stating: “… the use of vegetable oils for engine fuels may seem insignificant today. But such oils may become in the course of time, as impor- tant as petroleum and the coal tar products of the present time.” Rudolph Diesel’s first compression igni- tion engines ran on peanut oil at the World Exposition in Paris. The current drive towards greater use of bio-fuels is being pushed by the diversification of energy sources using renewable products, as reli- ance on carbon based fuels becomes an issue, and the need to replace the MTBE (Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether) component used in many of the world’s petroleum prod- ucts. The change from fuels with an MTBE component started as an environmental issue in locations such as the West Coast of the USA, New York City and Europe. The US ethanol industry is the fast- est growing energy industry in the world, with ethanol being blended in 30% of the nation’s gasoline. As of May 2006 there were 97 E85 (and 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline fuel) plants in the USA with a total operat- ing capacity of 4.5 billion gallons per year. A further 35 are currently under construction, nine are being expanded and a further 145 each with capacities of between 7 million and 140 million gallons a year are in the planning stage. Ethanol has been recognised as the natural choice for replacing MTBE and the need for blending Ethanol into petroleum products is now a global requirement. Brazil has long been the world’s leader when it comes to fuel ethanol capacity, but the USA is poised to exceed this and other countries in the western hemisphere are rapidly growing their produc- tion. European legisla- tion has set substantial targets for the coming years and EU Directive 2003/30/EC promoting the use of Bio-fuels in transport sets a target of 5.75% use by 2010. Standards for bio-fuels have already been established, with the undiluted base products being defined as B100 (100% Bio-Diesel) and E100 (100% Ethanol). Subsequent blending will modify this number, e.g. a blend of 80% petrol and 20% Ethanol defined as E20, or a blend of 95% diesel and 5% bio-diesel defined as B5. Properti es for unleaded fuel to be sold in the EU are defined by EN228:2004 and allows up to 5% Ethanol. BioDiesel can be used in any concentra- tion with petroleum-based diesel fuel and little or no modification being required for existing diesel engines. BioDiesel is a domestic renewable fuel for diesel engines and is derived from vegetable oils and ani- mal fats, including used oils and fats ( see diagram below ). Soybean oil is the leading vegetable oil produced in the USA and the leading feedstock for BioDiesel production. BioDiesel is not the same as a raw vegetable oil; rather it is produced by a chemical process which removes the glycerine and converts the oil into methyl esters. For producers of bio-fuels, the massive growth signifies a greater requirement for pumps, mixers and integrated processing systems. Bio-fuels blending “Utilising the current petroleum distribu- tion infrastructure, blending is typically carried out at the storage or loading ter- BIOFUELS FOCUS Technology can boost biofuels’ production; while at the same time political and important social issues can rein it in. reFOCUS looks at some some cutting edge BioFuel processing tech- nologies (below); and the country case study on page 52 charts Brazil’s progress to date as it strives to overcome its difficulties and develop a major biodiesel program ripe for export. 48 r eFOCUS January/February 2007 1471 0846/07 © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. The general BioDiesel production process is depicted. A fat or oil is degummed, and then reacted with an alcohol such as methanol in the presence of a catalyst to produce glycerin and methyl esters.
