Expertise
Biodiesel and Triglycerides
Introduction
Biodiesel is produced by the the transesterification of vegetable oil or
animal fat to give a mixture of mono-alkyl esters of long chain fatty
acids. Biodiesel is used to fuel diesel engines, either alone or, more
commonly, blended with conventional petroleum sourced diesel. The
production of biodiesel has mushroomed in recent years as a result of
the requirement of modern industrial economies, particularly the US and
the EU, to achieve greater security of their fuel supplies and because
bio-fuels are advocated as one means of reducing global CO2 emmisions.
The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation requires that 5% of all of the
transport fuel, which is in the EU, must be renewable by 2010.
The acceptance of biodiesel by the transport industry has, however, been
negatively impacted by the issues of quality control and variation of
raw materials. Biodiesel has different chemical and physical properties
to petrodiesel. This means that when mixing biodiesel and petrodiesel,
whether this is in a controlled fuel blend or through the motorist
mixing the fuels in the fuel tank, can lead to the precipitation of
solid particles which then cause operational problems in vehicles by
blocking the engine filters.
Examples
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