Abstract
The present investigation provides an overview of the current technology related to the green diesel, from the classification and chemistry of the available biomass feedstocks to the possible production technologies and up to the final fuel properties and their effect in modern compression ignition internal combustion engines. Various biomass feedstocks are reviewed paying attention to their specific impact on the production of green diesel. Then, the most prominent production technologies are presented such as the hydro-processing of triglycerides, the upgrading of sugars and starches into C15–C18 saturated hydrocarbons, the upgrading of bio-oil derived by the pyrolysis of lignocellulosic materials and the “Biomass-to-Liquid” (BTL) technology which combines the production of syngas (H2 and CO) from the gasification of biomass with the production of synthetic green diesel through the Fischer-Tropsch process. For each of these technologies the involved chemistry is discussed and the necessary operation conditions for the maximum production yield and the best possible fuel properties are reviewed. Also, the relevant research for appropriate catalysts and catalyst supports is briefly presented. The fuel properties of green diesel are then discussed in comparison to the European and US Standards, to petroleum diesel and Fatty Acid Methyl Esters (FAME) and, finally their effect on the compression ignition engines are analyzed. The analysis concludes that green diesel is an excellent fuel for combustion engines with remarkable properties and significantly lower emissions.
Highlights
The modern world is in a continuous search for improved sources of energy
The results showed that the Ni/HZSM-5 was more active than the Ni/Al2 O3 and Ni/SiO2, the Ni/HZSM-5 exhibited high selectivity to octadecane while the other two catalysts were more selective to heptadecane
Petroleum diesel fuel falls under the specifications outlined by the standards EN 590 in Europe [210] and ASTM D975 in the United States [211] which are presented in Table 9, together with EN 14214 [212] which applies in Europe for oxygenated biodiesels comprised of Fatty Acid Methyl Esters (FAME) and
Summary
The modern world is in a continuous search for improved sources of energy. This effort is catalyzed by the gradual depletion of the reserves of crude oil, natural gas and coal, by the necessity for national energy security, and by the detrimental impact of the conventional utilization of fossil fuels on climatic conditions and the natural environment. Petroleum diesel is a distillate of fossil petroleum oil rich in saturated hydrocarbons ( known as paraffins or alkanes) containing 8 to 21 carbon atoms per molecule (C8 to C21 ). Biodiesel is an oxygenated fuel which does not contain any sulfur and its combustion is cleaner leading to reduced emissions of CO, unburned hydrocarbons (HCs) and smoke. Thermal conversion involves the pyrolysis of biomass andproduction the production of bio-oil which is refined into green diesel. H and CO and the subsequent chemical biomass for the production of syngas which is rich 2in H2 and CO and the subsequent chemical synthesis of liquid green diesel the wellthe known (FT) process. FT green diesel [21,22]
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