Soybean Biodiesel Research Articles

Heterogeneous catalyst screening for fatty acid methyl esters production through interesterification reaction

This study aimed the investigation of a potential heterogeneous catalyst for the interesterification reaction for soybean biodiesel production. Different types of catalysts (Y Zeolite, MgO, Nb2O5 and mixed oxides) were tested in this work. Ca–Mg–Al mixed oxide with 40% wt. Ca was the more suitable catalyst for interesterification reaction. Effects of temperature, catalyst content and methyl acetate to oil molar ratio on product yields were investigated through kinetic experiments. Kinetic behavior of intermediate compounds was also assessed. The best experimental condition was 325 °C, 40:1 methyl acetate/oil molar ratio and 5% wt. of catalyst/oil, with a global yield of 68.55% reached in 80 min with pressure ranged between 5 and 10 MPa. A catalyst reusing test was carried out in this condition. The reaction could be performed for at least three times with the same initial catalyst without a significant activity decay.

Effect of the injection pressure and orifice diameter on the spray characteristics of biodiesel

The purpose of this study was to analyze the influence of the injection pressure and orifice diameter on the spray characteristics of soybean biodiesel. The macroscopic spray characteristics of the spray tip penetration (STP) and spray cone angle (SCA) were tested with a high-speed camera system. The microscopic spray characteristics, such as the statistical size distribution, Sauter mean diameter (SMD), representative diameters and dispersion boundary, were obtained using a Malvern laser particle size analyzer (PSA). The test results showed that with an increasing injection pressure, the STP and the SCA of the biodiesel increased, but the curves of size-volume distribution and cumulative volume distribution of the atomized droplets shifted to smaller diameters. The SMD and representative diameters decreased, and the dispersion boundary was reduced. Moreover, with a decreasing orifice diameter, longer STP and smaller SCA values were observed. Similarly, the size distribution curves of the atomized biodiesel droplets shifted to smaller diameters. The SMD and representative diameters were reduced, and the relative size range of the atomized biodiesel droplets was enlarged. Higher injection pressures and smaller orifice diameters improved the biodiesel atomization; however, the smaller orifice diameters caused an inhomogeneous size distribution of the atomized biodiesel droplets.

Use of Soybean, Corn and Palm Biodiesel in a Centrifugal Pump Driven by a Diesel Engine: Performance and Emissions Analysis

Use of Soybean, Corn and Palm Biodiesel in a Centrifugal Pump Driven by a Diesel Engine: Performance and Emissions Analysis

The influence of soybean biodiesel and diesel on corrosion of SAE 1020 carbon steel

The national demand for biodiesel is growing considerably and studies have been able to prove that biodiesel presents itself able to trigger corrosive processes on metal parts. This study aims to evaluate the SAE 1020 carbon steel corrosion rate by weight loss after accelerated aging in soybean biodiesel samples (B100) and in diesel with the addition of 5% biodiesel (B5 S500) at storage temperature (25°C) and engine operating temperature (100°C), for a period of 10 consecutive days. The SAE 1020 carbon steel specimens (12.5 x 75 x 3mm) were taken from the same steel plate, sanded, cleaned and degreased sequentially with alcohol 98% and 100% acetone and submitted to ultrasonic bath in 100% acetone for 180 seconds. After the corrosion test at 25°C and 100°C, it was observed the formation of deposits corrosion in SAE 1020 carbon steel blades, in the cases of soybean biodiesel samples (B100) and diesel (B5 S500). After the test at 100°C, it was also observed a color change, in the case of soybean biodiesel samples (B100). The SAE 1020 carbon steel corrosion rate, subjected to soybean biodiesel (B100) and diesel (B5 S500), increased with temperature, being more pronounced in the specimens subjected to corrosion tests with soybean biodiesel (B100).

Oil Adjuvants Enhance the Efficacy of Pyraclostrobin in Managing Cucumber Powdery Mildew (Podosphaera xanthii) by Modifying the Affinity of Fungicide Droplets on Diseased Leaves.

Adding adjuvants improved the affinity of fungicide droplets to cucumber leaves infected with powdery mildew (Podosphaera xanthii) and subsequent efficacy of fungicide treatments in reducing the disease. The affinity of oil adjuvants was quantified by adhesional tension and "work of adhesion". Oil adjuvant-fungicide mixtures were applied to plants in field experiments to evaluate their effectiveness in disease prevention. Both the adhesional tension and work of adhesion of the adjuvants at selected concentrations increased on powdery-mildew-infected cucumber leaves more than on healthy cucumber leaves. The adjuvant GY-Tmax (GYT) displayed the best surface activity or "surfactivity" in enhancing the affinity and adherence of droplets to powdery-mildew-infected cucumber leaves, while epoxidized soybean oil (ESO), methyl oleate, and biodiesel exhibited much lower effects in terms of the surface tension, contact angle, adhesional tension, and work of adhesion. Field experiments determined that the combination of GYT at 1,000 mg liter-1 and pyraclostrobin (150 g a.i. ha-1) was most effective (91.52%) in controlling cucumber powdery mildew. Pyraclostrobin with ESO was also highly effective (ranging from 77.54 to 89.65%). The addition of oil adjuvants, especially GYT and ESO, to fungicide applications can be an effective strategy to enhance the efficacy of pesticides in controlling plant diseases by modifying the affinity of fungicide droplets to symptomatic leaves.

Evaluation of the oxidative and thermal stability of soybean methyl biodiesel with additions of dichloromethane extract ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe)

The objective of the present work was to evaluate the effect of the addition of dichloromethane extract obtained from Ginger rhizomes (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) in biodiesel, as well as to compare the results obtained with the synthetic antioxidants BHT and TBHQ. The soybean methyl biodiesel (BMS) used was produced in our laboratory. The thermal behavior of the extract, synthetic antioxidants and biodiesel produced were evaluated using TG/DTG techniques. The additions of EDG and BHT and TBHQ were performed in increasing proportions relative to the mass of the extract: mass of the methyl biodiesel and the samples were stored under the same conditions and studied for storage time of up to ninety days using TG/DTG and method to evaluate the action of the addition of these antioxidants in inhibiting and/or retarding the oxidative stability of the biodiesel samples. After 90 days of storage, the BAN-4 sample had the highest initial decomposition temperature. Regarding the oxidative stability, the samples with EDG additions also presented values higher than the minimum regulated by the ANP, confirming the action of the antioxidants present in the EDG in the control of the oxidation reactions of BMS.

Comparison of linear regression and artificial neural network technique for prediction of a soybean biodiesel yield

ABSTRACTAtmospheric pollution is one of the biggest problems all over the world. For this reason, researchers try to find alternative fuels for diesel engine, and biodiesel is the most feasible alternate fuel for diesel engines. In this study, linear regression (LR) and artificial neural network (ANN) used to predict the biodiesel yield produced by transesterification of soybean oil at constant temperature is reported in present work describes. The ANN estimation was done using a Levenberg–Marquardt learning algorithm (trainlm) with log sigmoid (logsig) neural network algorithm with 4 neurons in the hidden layer (3:4:1 topology). The experimental and ANN values were compared for the biodiesel yield. The value R2 = 0.9899 for ANN and R2 = 0.4198 for LR. Root mean square errors (RMSE) for ANN and LR are 0.6331 and 3.052, respectively. Results were compared with LR modeling. As a result, ANN gave more accurate results than LR and can be suggested as good a prediction method. It was followed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy analysis.

Techno-Economic and Life Cycle Impacts Analysis of Direct Methanation of Glycerol to Bio-Synthetic Natural Gas at a Biodiesel Refinery

An economic and environmental feasibility study were carried out on the thermochemical conversion of glycerol to medium methane content biological synthetic natural gas (bio-SNG). A plant that processed 497 kg·h−1 of glycerol to bio-SNG was modelled as an on-site addition to a soybean biodiesel plant based in Missouri (USA) that produced 30 million litres of soybean biodiesel per year. Assuming the glycerol contained only 80 wt% free glycerol, the bio-SNG could substitute up to 24% of the natural gas at the soybean biodiesel plant. The discounted cash flow analysis showed it was possible to generate positive NPVs and achieve internal rates of return within the hurdle rate (12%) for biomass gasification technologies. From the environmental analysis it was found that the bio-SNG could reduce global warming potential by 28% when compared to conventional natural gas in the USA and translates to roughly 7% reduction in biodiesel natural gas emissions, if the maximum 24% of natural gas were to be substituted by bio-SNG. The work highlights the potential to divert waste glycerol to an onsite energy vector at soybean biodiesel plants with minimal change to the main biodiesel production process and potential reductions to soybean biodiesel global warming potential.

Enhancement in combustion, performance, and emission characteristics of a diesel engine fueled with diesel, biodiesel, and its blends by using nanoadditive.

This article presents the results of investigations carried out to evaluate the improvement in combustion, performance, and emission characteristics of a diesel engine fueled with neat petro-diesel (PD), soybean biodiesel (SB), and 50% SB blended PD (PD50SB) by using carbon nanotube (CNT) as an additive. The acid-alkaline-based transesterification process with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) as a catalyst was applied to derive the methyl ester of SB. A mass fraction of 100ppm CNT nanoparticle was blended with base fuels by using an ultrasonicator and the physiochemical properties were measured based on EN standards. The measured physiochemical properties are in good agreement with standard limits. The experimental evaluations were carried out under varying brake mean effective pressure (BMEP) conditions in a single-cylinder, four-stroke, and natural aspirated research diesel engine at a constant speed of 1500rpm. The results reveal that the SB and its blend promote shorter ignition delay period (IDP) that is resulting in lower in-cylinder pressure (ICP) and net heat release rate (NHR) compared to PD. The SB and its blend increase the brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC), and reduce the brake specific energy consumption (BSEC) and exhaust gas temperature (EGT), due to lower heating value, and efficient combustion, respectively. As far as the emission characteristics are concerned, the SB and its blend promote lower magnitude of hydrocarbon (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), and smoke emissions compared to PD except for oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emission. The CNT nanoparticle inclusion with base fuels significantly improves the combustion, performance, and emissions level irrespective of engine load conditions.

Prediction of Palm Based Biodiesel Properties Through the Preparation of Empirical Equation

Biodiesel is one of plant-based fuel that has been made mandatory by the Indonesian government for using in transportation, industries, and power plants. This obligation is gradually applied as stipulated in the regulation of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources 12/2015 regarding to supply, use and plant-based fuel trade as alternative fuel. The percentage of biodiesel use was increasing from 20 % in 2016 to 30 % in 2030. The quality of biodiesel has to be continuously improved to support the regulation. Biodiesel with high performance has excellent flame characteristics, high oxidation stability and easy to flow at low temperature. These characteristics are highly determined by the composition of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME). Empirical equations were formulated based on primary data to predict the essential parameters of biodiesel, consisting of oxidation stability, cloud point, Iodine value, viscosity and density. The primary data were obtained by analyzing three biodiesel samples from domestic producers and two samples of biodiesel blend between palm stearin and soybean biodiesel. Identification results showed that all three samples have different FAME profiles which consist of palm oil biodiesel, palm stearin biodiesel and palm olein biodiesel. The empirical equations were formulated using statistical software and validated by comparing the calculated results with actual biodiesel parameters. This method reduced the testing time up to 13 working days and reduced testing cost up to 67% or IDR 1 190 000 per sample. The empirical equations formulated in this study were able to predict the essential parameters of biodiesel with the error was.

Combustion and emissions characteristics of date pit methyl ester in a single cylinder direct injection diesel engine

Current biofuels for diesel engines are largely derived from food crops and there is significant concern, recognised by legislation, that such fuels do not result in net reductions of greenhouse gas emissions when considering the entirety of the production to usage lifecycle. A potential alternative approach is to utilise the lipid content of organic waste streams arising from food crop cultivation for the manufacture of sustainable diesel fuels. This paper therefore presents experimental studies carried out on a modern direct injection diesel engine supplied with a biodiesel (fatty acid methyl esters) produced from waste date pits to determine the combustion and emissions characteristics of an alternative fuel produced from a food residue. Date pit methyl esters were tested relative to both rapeseed and soybean methyl esters, unblended and as blends with a reference fossil diesel, alongside reference fossil diesel and a commercially available fossil diesel from Oman, at constant injection timing and constant ignition timing at a constant engine speed of 1200 rpm. Gas chromatograph analysis of the methyl esters fatty acid composition found a significantly shorter mean alkyl moiety chain length and lower number of double bonds in the case of the date pit esters than either the rapeseed or soybean biodiesel. All of the methyl esters exhibited a similar duration of ignition delay less than that displayed by a reference fossil diesel, but with a higher premixed burn fraction and peak heat release rate in the case of date pit methyl esters relative to those of rapeseed and soybean. Exhaust emissions of NOx were found to be lowest for the unblended date pit methyl esters, suggesting a greater influence of adiabatic flame temperature on rates of thermal NOx production than global in-cylinder temperatures in the case of the unblended methyl esters. Relative to the reference fossil diesel and Oman diesel, all of the methyl esters tested resulted in low particulate matter emissions.

Fuel Composition Effects on Carbonyls and Quinones in Particulate Matter from a Light-Duty Diesel Engine Running Biodiesel Blends from Two Feedstocks

Several studies have linked diesel engine exhaust particulate matter (DPM) to adverse health effects. To examine the effects of biodiesel blends on light-duty diesel engine exhaust composition, concentrations of a select number of target compounds were determined in petrodiesel-biodiesel [waste vegetable oil (WVO) and soybean (SOY) feedstocks] fuel blends, lubricating oil, and exhaust particulate matter (PM). Particulate matter was generated from a light-duty diesel engine running on a transient drive cycle and fueled with WVO (B10, B20, B50, and B100 where Bxx refers to volume % biodiesel in fuel blend) and SOY (B20 and B100) biodiesel fuels blended with ultralow sulfur diesel (ULSD) reference fuel (B00). As expected, concentrations of individual n-alkanes (C12–C24) decreased with increasing biodiesel content but were absent from B100 for both WVO and SOY feedstocks. No target PAHs, carbonyls, and quinones were detected in B00 fuel, biodiesel fuel blends (for both WVO and SOY), or lubricating oil. No FAM...

Performance and combustion characteristics of a compression ignition engine running on diesel-biodiesel-ethanol (DBE) blends – Potential as diesel fuel substitute on an Euro III engine

Experimental tests on an Euro III compression ignition engine were performed with blends of diesel B15 fuel with ethanol (0–20 vol%) and 1 vol% of an original additive, defined as a mixture of 72.5 vol% of castor oil, 17.5 vol% of soybean biodiesel and 10 vol% of n-butanol. Such mixtures were compared to commercial diesel B7 E0 fuel. The results showed that the addition of ethanol implied an increase of the ignition delay, a faster heat release and a decrease of maximum pressure. Without any optimization of injection timing and combustion, results showed a better conversion of ethanol chemical energy into brake power, when compared with a commercial flex fuel spark ignition engine. In addition, a small increase in the indicated efficiency, in particular at low loads (25% of the maximum torque obtained with commercial fuel under the same rotation), was also observed. Specific fuel consumption increased almost 2% for each 5 vol% of anhydrous ethanol in the blends since the density and the lower heating value of the fuel decreased. A significant decrease of maximum torque was also observed, due to a reduction of the injected volume of fuel (up to 30% in diesel B15 E20 fuel).

Development and implementation of virtual instrumentation based on LabView applied to compression ignition engines operated with diesel-biodiesel blends

This work shows the implementation and development of a set of virtual instruments focused on recording the physical parameters of a compression ignition engine that operates with diesel-biodiesel, 95% diesel and 5% soybean biodiesel. The components of the engine are constituted by several individual virtual instruments (VI) with the objective of registering parameters such as temperature (VITM), revolutions per minute (VIMRPM), fuel consumption (VIMFC), emission of gases such as oxygen (VIMO) and rust nitric (VIMNO). As a result of the research, the software development, hardware of each of the VIs is presented using the virtual programming platform Labview 2015®, the calibration of the O2 sensors, NO and the result of the operation of the engine at 850 rpm constant an ambient temperature of 25 ℃, a relative humidity of 40% and an operating temperature at the engine head of 65 ℃, obtain a fuel consumption of 0.0616 l/min and an average emission of O2 10% and for the NO 540 ppm.•Implementation of virtual instrument focused on evaluate the physical parameters of CI engine operate with diesel-biodiesel.•The engine runs at 850 RPM under controlled conditions of 25 ℃ and a 40% RH with B5 mixture.•Engine emissions are constant and stable at 10% Vol. O2 and 540 ppm of NO.

An Analytical Evaluation of the Synergistic Effect on Biodiesel Oxidation Stability Promoted by Binary and Ternary Blends Containing Multifunctional Additives.

The antioxidant potential of a novel additive, named maleimide p-CH3, and the synergistic effect on biodiesel stabilization when combined with a traditional synthetic antioxidant (e.g., propyl gallate (PG)) as well as alternative additives (e.g., alizarin (ALZ) and citric acid (CA)) were investigated. The additives were combined in binary and/or ternary blends at low concentrations and their effectiveness against soybean biodiesel oxidation in the absence and presence of metal was tested. The effectiveness of binary and ternary blends was also evaluated by the Rancimat® method and compared with total acid number (TAN). The results showed that the combinations presented synergetic effects and were effective in stabilizing biodiesel in accordance with the minimum requirements of EN 14214 and also revealed that the mixture containing PG and p-CH3, even at low concentrations, can be successfully applied for biodiesel preservation. In summary, we report that the biodiesel stability can be obtained by using a reduced amount of additives, suggesting that biodiesel shelf life can be improved in association with a cost reduction when compared to the use of conventional antioxidants.

Emissions and performance of a diesel engine affected by soybean, linseed, and crambe biodiesel

In Brazil, rural communities apart from large centers, distant from energy transmission and distribution grids, need electric energy, and this situation renders it difficult to ensure local economic progress. One alternative to solve the problem is energy generation using vegetal-oil-based fuels, made of local raw materials that are renewable and have a lower impact on the environment. The objective of the present work was to assess the performance and emissions of a diesel engine for energy generation that operated with soybean, linseed, and crambe vegetal-oil-based fuels. The fuels were tested in a 5-kVA generator engine at a load from 750 W to 3000 W. Biofuels were obtained from a mixture of conventional diesel oil with soybean, linseed, and crambe oil at incremental levels of 10%, 30%, 50%, and 70% of vegetal oil in the fuel mixture composition. The increase in soybean oil proportion at low load (750 W) resulted in lower specific consumption. At a high load (3000 W), there was a reduction in specific consumption when compared to conventional diesel fuels. Crambe biodiesel resulted in a reduction in emissions of CO, CO2, and NOx as function of the increase in crambe oil in the proportion. The results of these studies indicate that conventional diesel blends with low (10%) and medium (30%) concentrations of soybean, linseed, and crambe vegetal oil are viable technical solutions for the partial substitution of conventional diesel.

Improving the sustainability of biodiesel by controlling the corrosive effects of soybean biodiesel on aluminum alloy 5052 H32 via cardanol

Here we investigate the inhibition capacity of cardanol for the corrosion of aluminum alloy 5052 H32 (AA 5052 H32) in biodiesel using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and weight loss methods. The results showed that the inhibition efficiency increases with an increase in the concentration of cardanol. The inhibitive action of cardanol is due to the adsorption of cardanol molecules on the AA 5052 H32 surface without the variation in the corrosion mechanism. The widening of phase angle maxima at an intermediate frequency by adding cardanol confirms the adsorption of a film of cardanol molecules on the AA 5052 H32 surface.

Accelerated oxidation of fresh and stored biodiesel samples obtained from castor and soybean oils using the petrooxy method

In this study the accelerated oxidation of biodiesel obtained by transesterification of castor and soybean oil was evaluated for fresh samples and compared with the same samples after ca. one year of storage under controlled conditions. The oxidation kinetics of the samples was accelerated using the PetroOXY method at temperatures of 100, 120 and 140 °C and initial oxygen pressure of 700 kPa. Total acid number (TAN) of the samples at increasing accelerated oxidation times (up to 60 min) was used to follow the kinetics behavior for both castor and soybean biodiesel. A steep increase in total acid number of soybean biodiesel oxidized at 140 °C (reaching values up to 100 mg KOH/g) was observed. For biodiesel samples from castor oil, values of less than 20 mg KOH/g were reached under the same conditions. For castor biodiesel, kinematic viscosity and specific gravity were also evaluated with increasing accelerated oxidation times. Our results indicate that the oxidative stability after one year of storage for soybean biodiesel was more affected than for castor oil biodiesel.

Multi-response optimization to obtain better performance and emission level in a diesel engine fueled with water-biodiesel emulsion fuel and nanoadditive.

The present study aims to investigate the optimum condition of stationary diesel engine's operating parameters to obtain better performance and emission level, where the diesel engine is fueled with different concentrations of soybean biodiesel (SB), water, and alumina (Al) nanoadditive. Taguchi method coupled with gray relational analysis has been implemented in this study to obtain the optimum concentration of SB, water, and Al nanoparticle, and statistical analysis of variance (ANOVA) is applied to obtain the individual response of operating parameters on overall engine performance and emission level. Various concentration of SB (10%, 20%, and 30%), water (10%, 20%, and 30%), and Al nanoparticle (50ppm, 100ppm, and 150ppm) are mixed with base diesel (BD) by mechanical agitation and followed by an ultra-sonication process. The fuel properties are measured based on EN590 standards, and the experiments are conducted in a single-cylinder, four-stroke, natural aspirated stationary diesel engine based on an L9 orthogonal array fuel combination. From the obtained gray relational co-efficient (GRC) and signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio, the optimum concentration of SB, water, and nanoadditive are identified as 20%, 10%, and 100ppm, respectively, and a confirmation experiment has also been carried out to confirm the improvements at optimum condition. The ANOVA results imply that water concentration (WC) has the maximum influence on overall diesel engine's performance and emission level followed by nanoparticle and SB concentrations. Overall, it can be concluded that the engine exhibits better performance and greener emissions at optimal condition.

An investigation of the friction and wear behavior of soybean biodiesel

Abstract Biodiesel has attracted more and more attention worldwide due to increasing environmental concerns. In this study, the tribological performance of soybean biodiesel was evaluated through HFRR. Besides steel-steel contact, steel-ceramic and steel-diamond contacts were also investigated since coating with ceramic and diamond materials is popular to improve tribological performance in diesel engine. Results reveal that in contrast to steel and ZrO2, diamond coating is effective in friction and wear reduction. Wear scar sizes of steel balls for steel-steel contract decrease with increasing concentration of biodiesel. However, higher concentration of biodiesel produces larger wear scar when steel balls were mated with ZrO2. Results indicate that diamond coating is effective to improve tribological performance while ZrO2 is not applicable in biodiesel environment.