The fuel properties of methyl esters produced from canola oil- animal tallow blends by basecatalyzed transesterification

Year 2010, Volume: 2 Issue: 2, 2 - 5, 15.06.2010

Şehmus Altun , Fevzi Yaşar , Cengiz Öner

Abstract

Biodiesel is an alternative diesel fuel that can be produced from renewable feedstocks such as vegetable oil or animal fats by transesterification with methanol for using in diesel engines. The viscosity and density of biodiesel fuels are important parameters due to being key fuel properties for injection and combustion process of diesel engines. These fuel properties mainly depend on the feedstock which is used in the biodiesel production. In this study, the blends containing 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% of food-grade canola oil/inedible animal tallow in volume basis were prepared and converted into methyl esters by base-catalyzed transesterification. Effect of inedible animal tallow-canola oil blends on the viscosity and density of methyl esters were investigated. Experimental results showed that the kinematics viscosity of methyl esters increased as animal tallow ratio increased in the feedstock. Besides, it was observed that density did not change much.

Keywords

Canola oil, inedible animal tallow, Biodiesel production, Fuel properties

References

• [1] Meher, L.C. Vidya Sagar, D. Naik, S.N. “Technical aspects of biodiesel production by transesterification—a review”, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 10, 248–268, 2006. [2] Srivastava, A. Prasad, R. “Triglycerides-based diesel fuels”, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 4, 111-133, 2000. [3] Özsezen, A.N. Çanakçı, M. and Sayın, C. “Effects of Biodiesel from Used Frying Palm Oil on the Exhaust Emissions of an Indirect Injection (IDI) Diesel Engine”, Energy & Fuels. 22, 2796–2804, 2008. [4] Öner, C. Altun, Ş. “Biodiesel production from inedible animal tallow and an experimental investigation of its use as alternative fuel in a direct injection diesel engine”, Applied Energy, 86, 2114–2120, 2009. [5] Yamık, H. İçingür, Y. “Bir dizel motorunda ayçiçek yağı esterlernin yakıt olarak kullanılmasının performans ve emisyonlara etkisi”, Teknoloji, 11(3), 201-209, 2008.. (in Turkish). [6] Özsezen, A.N. Çanakçı, M. and Sayın, C. “Effects of Biodiesel from Used Frying Palm Oil on the Performance, Injection, and Combustion Characteristics of an Indirect Injection Diesel Engine”, Energy & Fuels, 22, 1297–1305, 2008. [7] Lin, B-F. Huang, J-H, and Huang, D-Y. “Effects of Biodiesel from Palm Kernel Oil on the Engine Performance, Exhaust Emissions, and Combustion Characteristics of a Direct Injection Diesel Engine”, Energy & Fuels, 22, 4229–4234, 2008. [8] Krahl, J. Bünger, J. Schröder, O. Munack, A. and Knothe, G. “Exhaust Emissions and Health Effects of Particulate Matter from Agricultural Tractors Operating on Rapeseed Oil Methyl Ester”, JAOCS, 79 (7), 717- 724, 2002. [9] Lapuerta, M. Armas, O. Ballesterosa, R. Fernandez, J. “Diesel emissions from biofuels derived from Spanish potential vegetable oils”, Fuel, 84, 773–780, 2005. [10] Demirbaş, A. “ Importance of biodiesel as transportation fuel”, Energy Policy, 35, 4661–4670, 2007. [11] Çanakçı, M. Şanlı, H. “Biodiesel production from various feedstocks and their effects on the fuel properties”, J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol, 35:431– 441, 2008. [12] Lapuerta, M. Rodrıguez-Fernandez, J. Oliva, F. and Canoira, L. “Biodiesel from Low-Grade Animal Fats: Diesel Engine Performance and Emissions”, Energy & Fuels. 23, 121–129, 2009. [13] Canoira, L. Rodrıguez-Gamero, M. Querol, E. Alcantara, R. Lapuerta, M. and Oliva, F. “Biodiesel from Low-Grade Animal Fat: Production Process Assessment and Biodiesel Properties Characterization”, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 47, 7997–8004, 2008. [14] Taravus, S. Temur, H and Yartaşı, A. “Alkali-Catalyzed Biodiesel Production from Mixtures of Sunflower Oil and Beef Tallow”, Energy & Fuels, 23 (8), 4112–4115, 2009. [15] Issariyakul, T. Kulkarni, M.G. Meher, L.C. Dalai, A.K. Bakhshi, N.N. “Biodiesel production from mixtures of canola oil and used cooking oil”, Chemical Engineering Journal, 140, 77–85, 2008. [16] Moser, B.R. “Influence of Blending Canola, Palm, Soybean, and Sunflower Oil Methyl Esters on Fuel Properties of Biodiesel”, Energy & Fuels, 22, 4301–4306. 2008. [17] Ali, Y. Hanna, M.A. and Cuppett, S.L. “Fuel Properties of Tallow and Soybean Oil Esters”, JAOCS, 72 (12), 1557-1564, 1995. [18] İlgen, O. et al. “Investigation of Biodiesel Production from Canola Oil using Mg-Al Hydrotalcite Catalysts”, Turk J Chem, 31,509–514, 2007.