OPTIMIZATION OF BIODIESEL YIELD FROM GROUNDNUT OIL By ABUBAKAR ABDULKADIR A

BACKGROUND  Biodiesel refers to a vegetable oil- or animal fat-based diesel fuel consisting of long-chain alkyl (methyl, propyl or ethyl) esters.  BIODIESEL- fuel produced through esterification and trans-esterification of plants and animal fats.  Involves reacting fats of animal or plants with short chain alcohols.  Usually Methanol and Ethanol.

ABOUT PEANUT….  Groundnut is the 13 th most important crop in the world.  Seeds oil:  50% edible  25% protein is digestible  World Production million tons

CHEMICAL COMPOSITIONS  Mainly fatty acid Triglycerides

BIODIESEL STRUCTURE

optimization  Can be achieved through altering of the reaction/process parameters. Reaction time Temperature Catalyst used and volume of catalyst

Advantages Over Petro-Diesel  It is made from renewable resources.  It performs just as well as the normal diesel fuel.  It causes less pollution as compared to diesel powered engines.  It is relatively less inflammable compared to the normal diesel.  It can be mixed with normal diesel fuel.  Engines last longer when using it.  It has a higher octane and lubricity rating than pure petroleum-based diesel fuel, which improves engine efficiency and operating life cycle.  It produces 78% less carbon dioxide (CO2) than normal diesel fuel.

SOME DISADVANTAGES  It is more expensive than normal diesel fuel.  It tends to reduce fuel economy.  It is less suitable for use in low temperatures.  It cannot be transported in pipelines.  It gives out more nitrogen oxide emissions.  It can only be used in diesel-powered engines

WHY PEANUT  123 gallons of peanut oil from 1 acre of land  50 gallons of soy oil can be produced from an acre of land  pounds per acre  ton (University of Georgia)  petroleum diesel fuel at $3.4 per gallon and peanut diesel at $1.75, the total cost of a gallon of blended diesel would be $1.60 per gallon, using the low input production system used in the USDA tests. (University of Georgia)

Trans-esterification  Trans-esterification - the process of exchanging the organic group R” of an ester with the organic group R′ of an alcohol.  Achieved by use of acid or base catalyst

THE REACTION

MECHANISM

REFERENCES  Dorado, M.P., E. Ballesteros, J.M. Arnal, J. Gomez, F.J. Lopez, 2003b. Testing waste olive oil methyl ester as a fuel in a ddiesel engine. Energ. Fuel., 17(6):  Ma, F., L.D. Clements and M.A. Hanna,1998. Biodiesel fuel from animal fats and ancillary studies of transesterification of beef tallow. Industrial Engineering Chemical Resources, 37.  Van J. Gerpen, B. Shanks and R. Pruszko, 2004b. Biodiesel Analytical Methods, NREL inc, Colorado. 08/10/07 