1. Biodiesel
• Khawar Nehal
• CEO
• Applied Technology Research Center
• Guest Lecture for Dadabhoy Institute
• Thursday 5th of November 2009
•

2. Topics to discuss
• What is biodiesel
• How it is made
• Properties
• Benefits
• Blends
• In Pakistan
• Applications
• Historical Background
• Quality standards
• Research opportunies
•

3. What is Biodiesel?
• A clean burning alternative fuel
for diesel engines.
• Produced from domestic,
renewable resources such as
vegetable oils like soybean oil,
or animal fat like the ones used to
make some kababs
• Meets health effect testing (Clean Air
Act CAA)
•

4. What is Biodiesel?
• Lower emissions, High flash point
(>300F), Safer
• Biodegradable, Essentially non-toxic.
• Chemically, biodiesel molecules are
mono-alkyl esters produced usually
from triglyceride esters
• Contains no petroleum, but can
be blended at any level with
petroleum diesel to create a
biodiesel blend

5. What it looks like

6. Space-filling
model of methyl
linoleate, or
linoleic acid
methyl ester, a
common methyl
ester produced
from soybean or
canola oil and
methanol.

7. Space-filling model of ethyl
stearate, or stearic acid ethyl
ester, an ethyl ester produced
from soybean or canola oil and
ethanol.

8. How is it made
National Biodiesel Board 8

10. After Glycerin removal, biodiesel now just needs to be
cleaned/purified before use:

11. A simple
biodiesel
processor.

13. What is Biodiesel Made of?
Raw Material Use (2007)
Cottonseed Oil
0.21% Inedible Tallow
and Grease
4.36%
Refined
Soybean Oil
62.74%
Other Fats
and Oils
16.05%
Crude
Soybean Oil
16.64%
National Biodiesel Board 13

14. Properties
• The physical and chemical properties of
Bio-diesel are similar to those of
petroleum diesel; moreover, it is
environmentally friendly, non-
hazardous and bio-degradable. The
applications of Bio-diesel range from
transport vehicles to farming equipment
to industrial machinery.

15. Benefits of Biodiesel
Climate Change
• 78% Life Cycle Decrease In CO2
– CO2 emitted from burning fuel is taken up by
plants growing next crop of fuel feedstock
• Energy Balance 4.5 to 1
– That means you get more energy out than you
put in.
• Diesel engines already 30%-40% more
Efficient than Spark Ignition

16. Relative Greenhouse Gas Emissions
B100
B100 = 100% Biodiesel
B20 = 20% BD + 80% PD
Electric
Diesel Hybrid
B20
Ethanol 85%
Diesel
LPG
CNG
Gasoline
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160

17. Relative emissions: Diesel and Biodiesel
B100 **
B20
Diesel CO2
Mutagenicity
n-PAHs
PAHs
Sulfates
**NOx
Particulate Matter
CO
Total Unburned HCs
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Percent

18. Benefits of Biodiesel
Health and Safety
• Safer, Cleaner Alternative to Petroleum
– Exhaust has less harmful impact on human health
– Reduces emissions of unburned hydrocarbons,
carbon monoxide and particulate matter (smog)
• Biodegradable and nontoxic
– Less toxic than table salt and biodegrades as fast
as sugar
– Biodiesel exhaust comparable to the smell of
French fries

19. Any diesel engine
• Bio-diesel can be used in any type of
diesel engine in a blend with petroleum
diesel. No engine modifications are
required for blends up to 10%. Bio-
diesel can also be used “neat”,
provided its viscosity is similar to that of
petroleum diesel. The process to
extract the viscous glyceroids from Bio-
diesel is known as Transesterification.

20. Biodiesel can be used in
existing Diesel Engines
• Pure Biodiesel (B100) or blended
• with petroleum diesel (B20, BXX).
• Rudolf Diesel: peanut oil.
• The first diesel engine.
• Little or no engine modifications
• Use existing fuel distribution network.
• Available now

21. Environmental Issues
• Burning fossil fuels increases atmospheric levels of
carbon dioxide
• Fossil fuels are a Biodiesel’s Closed
finite resource Carbon Cycle
30% Increase
Graph taken from USF Oceanography webpage

22. Blends
• Blends of biodiesel and conventional
hydrocarbon-based diesel are products
most commonly distributed for use in
the retail diesel fuel marketplace.
• Much of the world uses a system
known as the "B" factor to state the
amount of biodiesel in any fuel mix: fuel
containing 20% biodiesel is labeled
B20, while pure biodiesel is referred to
as B100.

23. Blends
• Blends of 20 percent biodiesel with 80
percent petroleum diesel (B20) can
generally be used in unmodified diesel
engines. Biodiesel can also be used in
its pure form (B100), but may require
certain engine modifications to avoid
maintenance and performance
problems.

24. Blends
• Blending B100 with petroleum diesel
may be accomplished by:
• Mixing in tanks at manufacturing point
prior to delivery to tanker truck
• Splash mixing in the tanker truck
(adding specific percentages of
Biodiesel and petroleum diesel)
•

25. Blends
• In-line mixing, two components arrive at
tanker truck simultaneously.
• Metered pump mixing, petroleum diesel
and Biodiesel meters are set to X total
volume, transfer pump pulls from two
points and mix is complete on leaving
pump.
•

26. Distribution
• Since the passage of the Energy Policy
Act of 2005 biodiesel use has been
increasing in the United States.
• In Europe, the Renewable Transport
Fuel Obligation obliges suppliers to
include 5% renewable fuel in all
transport fuel sold in the EU by 2010.
For road diesel, this effectively means
5% biodiesel.

27. Biodiesel in Pakistan
• The Pakistan government is
planning to replace 5% of its
yearly diesel consumption with
biodiesel by 2015, and will raise
the figure to 10% by 2025.
About $1 billion would
reportedly be saved by the
country.

28. Biodiesel in Pakistan
• The announcement was made by
Adviser to Federal Minister for Water
and Power, Riaz Ahmad, according to a
report by The Daily Times last Saturday
(11 July 2009).

29. Pakistan Railways
• Pakistan Railways has been involved in
plantation of Sukh Chane trees along the
railway tracks.
• Once the performance parameters are
finalized and test run of the locomotive’s
engine is done, the oil extracted from the
Sukh Chane seed will be used in the
locomotive engine, saving sufficient
volumes of imported HSD.

30. Applications
• Biodiesel can be used in pure form
(B100) or may be blended with
petroleum diesel at any concentration in
most modern diesel engines.

31. Applications
• Biodiesel has different solvent
properties than petrodiesel, and will
degrade natural rubber gaskets and
hoses in vehicles (mostly vehicles
manufactured before 1992), although
these tend to wear out naturally and
most likely will have already been
replaced with FKM, which is
nonreactive to biodiesel.

32. Applications
• Biodiesel has been known to break
down deposits of residue in the fuel
lines where petrodiesel has been used.
As a result, fuel filters may become
clogged with particulates if a quick
transition to pure biodiesel is made.
Therefore, it is recommended to
change the fuel filters on engines and
heaters shortly after first switching to a
biodiesel blend.

33. Bus run on
Biodiesel

34. Vehicular use and manufacturer
acceptance
• In 2005, Chrysler (then part of
DaimlerChrysler) released the Jeep
Liberty CRD diesels from the factory
into the American market with 5%
biodiesel blends, indicating at least
partial acceptance of biodiesel as an
acceptable diesel fuel additive.

35. Vehicular use and manufacturer
acceptance

36. Vehicular use and manufacturer
acceptance
• In 2007, DaimlerChrysler indicated
intention to increase warranty coverage
to 20% biodiesel blends if biofuel
quality in the United States can be
standardized.

37. Vegetarian car

38. City busses
• Starting in 2004, the city of Halifax
decided to update its bus system to
allow the fleet of city buses to run
entirely on a fish-oil based biodiesel.
This caused the city some initial
mechanical issues but after several
years of refining, the entire fleet had
successfully been converted.

40. Vehicular use and manufacturer
acceptance
• In 2007, McDonalds of UK announced
that it would start producing biodiesel
from the wasteoil byproduct of its
restaurants. This fuel would be used to
run its fleet.
•
•

41. Railway usage
• The British businessman Richard
Branson's Virgin Voyager train, number
220007 Thames Voyager,billed as the
world's first "biodiesel train".

42. Railway usage
• Was converted to run
on 80% petrodiesel
and only 20%
biodiesel, and it is
claimed it will save
14% on direct
emissions.

43. Royal train
• The Royal Train on 15 September 2007
completed its first ever journey run on
100% biodiesel fuel supplied by Green
Fuels Ltd. His Royal Highness, The
Prince of Wales, and Green Fuels
managing director, James Hygate, were
the first passengers on a train fueled
entirely by biodiesel fuel. Since 2007
the Royal Train has operated
successfully on B100 (100% biodiesel).

44. Railway usage
• The Royal Train on 15 September 2007
completed its first ever journey run on
100% biodiesel fuel supplied by Green
Fuels Ltd. His Royal Highness, The
Prince of Wales, and Green Fuels
managing director, James Hygate, were
the first passengers on a train fueled
entirely by biodiesel fuel. Since 2007
the Royal Train has operated
successfully on B100 (100% biodiesel).

45. US Railway usage
• Similarly, a state-owned short-line
railroad in Eastern Washington ran a
test of a 25% biodiesel / 75%
petrodiesel blend during the summer of
2008, purchasing fuel from a biodiesel
producer seated along the railroad
tracks.
• The train will be powered by biodiesel
made in part from canola grown in
agricultural regions through which the
short line runs.

46. Railway usage
• Also in 2007 Disneyland began running
the park trains on B98 biodiesel blends
(98% biodiesel). The program was
discontinued in 2008 due to storage
issues, but in January 2009 it was
announced that the park would then be
running all trains on biodiesel
manufactured from its own used
cooking oils. This is a change from
running the trains on soy-based
biodiesel.

47. Railway usage
• Also in 2007 Disneyland began running
the park trains on B98 biodiesel blends
(98% biodiesel). The program was
discontinued in 2008 due to storage
issues.

48. Railway usage
• In January 2009 it was announced that
the park would then be running all
trains on biodiesel manufactured from
its own used cooking oils. This is a
change from running the trains on soy-
based biodiesel.

49. Aircraft use
• Czech Republic completed the world’s first
jet flight powered solely by 100% biodiesel
fuel. The flight tests were made in October
2007 in the high desert at the Reno-Stead
Airport by an L-29 military aircraft.

50. Aircraft use
• The Czechoslovakian-made aircraft
• is rated to fly on a variety of fuels including
heating oil, making it the preferred
• platform for testing biodiesel in jet engines.

51. Aircraft use
• Feb 2009
• LONDON (AFP) — The first flight by a
commercial airline to be partly powered
by biofuels and billed as heralding a
eco-friendlier and cheaper era of airline
travel took place on Sunday, Virgin
Atlantic said.
•
•

52. Aircraft use
• Feb 2009
• The first flight by a commercial airline to be
partly powered by biofuels and billed as
heralding a eco-friendlier and cheaper era of
airline travel took place
•
•

53. Aircraft use
• A Virgin Boeing 747 jumbo jet, carrying
biofuels mixed with kerosene,
traditional jet fuel, made the short trip
between London and Amsterdam with
no passengers on board.
•
•

54. Aircraft use
• The plane used a
biofuel blend of
babassu oil -- extracted
from nuts of the
babassu tree -- and
coconut oil.
• Both products are
more commonly found
in cosmetics like lip
balm and shaving
cream.

56. Aircraft use
• 13 October 2009
• Qatar Airways
yesterday undertook
the world's first
commercial flight
using a fuel made
partly from natural
gas that promises to
improve air quality
and could curb
carbon emissions.

57. Aircraft use
• The Airbus flight from London Gatwick
to Doha used a 50:50 blend of synthetic
gas-to-liquid (GTL) kerosene and
conventional oil-based kerosene, which
has been developed by Shell.
•

58. Aircraft use
•
• The company said that the GTL fuel
burns with close to zero sulfur dioxide
emissions and far lower particulate
emissions, and as such could be used
to help improve air quality around
airports.

59. Aircraft use
• The journey from the A380's historic
first GTL flight by a civil aircraft to
today's historic first passenger flight
using GTL, shows that drop in fuels are
real and viable.

60. Aircraft use
• This is a major breakthrough that brings
us closer to a world where fuels made
from feedstocks such as wood-chip
waste and other biomass are available
for commercial aviation. Airbus predicts
that in 2030, up to 30 per cent of jet fuel
will be alternative.

61. Powerboat
• 28 June 2008 : Earthrace - a biodiesel-
powered boat, has set a new record for the
quickest journey
• around the globe by a powerboat, in just 60
days.
•

62. Powerboat
• According to a report in Discovery News,
Earthrace has been traveling around the
planet for more than two years to raise
awareness for biologically produced fuels -
cooking oils, plant matter, even fat.
•

63. Powerboat
• On June 27, it pulled into port in
Sagunto, Spain, setting a new record
for the quickest journey around the
globe by a powerboat.
•

64. Powerboat
• Earthrace's 60-
day voyage
shaved more
than 14 days
off a record set
in 1998 by a
boat named
Cable and
• Wireless
Adventurer.

65. Powerboat
On June 27, it pulled
into port in Sagunto,
Spain, setting a new
record for the
quickest journey
around the globe by
a power boat.

66. by a powerboat.

67. Earthrace's 60-day voyage shaved more
than 14 days off a record set in 1998 by
a boat named Cable and wireless
adventurer.

68. As a heating oil
• Biodiesel can also be used as a heating
fuel in domestic and commercial
boilers, a mix of heating oil and biofuel
which is standardized and taxed slightly
differently than diesel fuel used for
transportation.

69. As a heating oil
• Heating biodiesel is available in various
blends; up to 20% biofuel is considered
acceptable for use in existing furnaces
without modification.

70. As a heating oil
• Older furnaces may contain rubber
parts that would be affected by
biodiesel's solvent properties, but can
otherwise burn biodiesel without any
conversion required. Care must be
taken at first, however, given that
varnishes left behind by petrodiesel will
be released and can clog pipes- fuel
filtering and prompt filter replacement is
required.

71. As a heating oil
• Another approach is to start using
biodiesel as blend, and decreasing the
petroleum proportion over time can
allow the varnishes to come off more
gradually and be less likely to clog.
•
• Thanks to its strong solvent properties,
however, the furnace is cleaned out
and generally becomes more efficient.

72. As a heating oil
• During the Biodiesel Expo 2006 in the
UK, Andrew J. Robertson presented his
biodiesel heating oil research from his
technical paper and suggested that B20
biodiesel could reduce UK household
CO2 emissions by 1.5 million tons per
year.

73. Using Biodiesel - cold weather
• Untreated B20 freezes about 2-10 °F
faster than #2 petrodiesel
• Use winter-blended diesel fuel.
• Make sure B20 cloud point is adequate
for the region and time of year
• Consider storing in heated building or
tank

74. High Profile Cold Weather Users
– Glacier National Park (MT)
– Yellowstone National Park
(WY, MT, ID)
– Grand Teton National Park
(WY)
– Salt Lake City Airport
– CO Ski Resorts
– UC Boulder

75. Historical background
• Transesterification of a vegetable oil
was conducted as early as 1853 by
scientists E. Duffy and J. Patrick, many
years before the first diesel engine
became functional.

76. First diesel engine
• Dr. Rudolf Diesel developed
the first diesel engine to run
on vegetable oil. Diesel
demonstrated his engine at
the World Exhibition in Paris
in 1900 using peanut oil as
fuel.

77. Historical background
• Rudolf Diesel's prime model, a single
10 ft (3 m) iron cylinder with a flywheel
at its base, ran on its own power for the
first time in Augsburg, Germany, on
August 10, 1893. In remembrance of
this event, August 10 has been
declared "International Biodiesel Day".

78. Grand Prize
• The French Otto Company (at the
request of the French government)
demonstrated a Diesel engine running
on peanut oil at the World Fair in Paris,
France in 1900, where it received the
Grand Prix (highest prize).

79. Historical background
• This engine stood as an example of
Diesel's vision because it was powered
by peanut oil — a biofuel, though not
biodiesel, since it was not
transesterified.

80. Historical background
• He believed that the utilization of
biomass fuel was the real future of his
engine. In a 1912 speech Diesel said,
"the use of vegetable oils for engine
fuels may seem insignificant today but
such oils may become, in the course of
time, as important as petroleum and the
coal-tar products of the present time."

81. Work in Pakistan
• A lot of work has been undertaken to
evaluate the Bio-Diesel In Pakistan. The
initial research on bio-diesel resources in
Pakistan is complete. As much as 10 oil
resources have been subjected to oil
extraction, transesterification and chemical
analysis. After iterative experiments, a
number of potential resources have been
identified including Pongamia Pinnata
(Sukh Chane), Rape Seed, Castor Bean
and Jatropha.

82. Raw materials
• Basic research on supply chain mechanism
is also complete. The infrastructure
requirements, the raw material availability
and deployment models have been primed.
• Still in progress is laboratory set-up for
advance research on bio-diesel.

83. Castor bean and castor plant

84. Pongamia Pinnata (Sukh Chane)

85. Jatropha seeds and plant in Pakistan

86. Pakistan sources
Botanic al Eng lish
S.No. Nam e Nam e Loc al Nam e Fam ily
1 Pongamioa Pongame Sukhh Chain Fabace ae
Pinnata
2 Brassica Mustard Sarson Brassicace ae
campe stris
3 Brassica alba White Chiti Sarson Brassicace ae
Mustard
4 Brassica nigra Black Mustard Kali Sarson Brassicace ae
5 Brassica napus Canola Canola Brassicace ae
6 Ricinus Castor Be an Arond E uphorbiace a
communis e
7 He lianthus Sunflowe r Suraj Mukhi Aste race ae
annuus
8 Gossypium Cotton Kappa Malvace ae
hirsutum

87. Pakistan sources
• • CLASS-I: BIO-DIESEL FROM OIL
SEEDS
•
• CLASS – II: BIO-DIESEL FROM WASTE
OILS
•

88. Pakistan sources
• CATEGORIES OF CLASS - I
• Due to diverse ecological conditions of
Pakistan, lucky to have over a dozen oil
seed crops of which it can afford to grow
one or the other in all season of the year.
•
• Depending upon the historical cultivation
and production the oil seed crops were
classified into conventional (i.e. traditional),
non traditional, industrial and wild crops.

89. Pakistan sources
• CATEGORY A – CONVENTIONAL
CULTIVATED OIL YIELDING CROP
• • Rape Seeds
• • Ground Nut
• • Sesame Seeds
• • Rocket seeds

90. Pakistan sources
• CATEGORY B – NON CONVENTIONAL
CULTIVATED OIL YIELDING CROPS
• • Sun flower
• • Soybean
• • Safflower

91. Pakistan sources
• CATEGORY C – Industries Based Crops
• • Linseed
• • Castor beans
• • Cotton seeds

92. Pakistan sources
• CATEGORY D – Wild Plant Resources
• • Pongame tree
• • Olive tree
• • Hemp oil
• • Oat seeds
• • Milk Thistle
• • Carthamus seeds
• • Jatropha

93. Pakistan sources
• TABLE-1 SHORT LISTING / SELECTION
OF RESOURCES FROM CLASS - 1

94. AVAILABILITY OF CLASS – II
RESOURCES
Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO) can be
recycled, cleaned and reused as bio
diesel. WVO is available in large quantities
from restaurants, hotel chains,
confectionaries and domestic cooking.

95. AVAILABILITY OF CLASS – II
RESOURCES
WVO is one of the cheaper sources for
biodiesel in developed countries, where
the cooking oil is used only once. Pakistan
is basically an agricultural country and due
to diverse ecological conditions, the
population is heavily dependent on
agricultural products.

96. AVAILABILITY OF CLASS – II
RESOURCES
For cooking purposes edible oil yielding
crops and plants are cultivated on a large
scale in the country.
These edible oils are utilized in hotels,
huts, local shops and every home of
Pakistan. So these are the major sources
for collection of WVO. According to one
survey, average consumption of edible oil
in Pakistan is 10 liters per month by each
family.

97. AVAILABILITY OF CLASS – II
RESOURCES
This gives rise to an estimated quantity of
240 million litres of WVO available in
Pakistan every year (assuming that 10% of
edible oil in Pakistan becomes waste).
Estimating an 80% yield of Bio-diesel from
WVO (as supported by our experiments), a
minimum approximate quantity of 150
million liters of Bio-diesel from WVO can
be produced in Pakistan.

98. AVAILABILITY OF CLASS – II
RESOURCES
From the marketing point of view there is a
chain of dealers for collection and further
selling of WVO. Price for 1 liter of WVO
from these sources may vary from Rs. 20
– 45, depending upon the quality and
quantity of WVO (some hotels etc. reuse
edible oil several times before disposing
off their WVO, while others use them once
or twice).

99. AVAILABILITY OF CLASS – II
RESOURCES
There are minor constraints in collection of
WVO, including cost constraints. But these
can be overcome by developing strategies
for coordination between dealers,
stakeholders and users of WVO.
Fixing of raw material rates by the GOP
might be required, as will be subsidies on
the production and sale of Bio-diesel.

100. Other Incentives for Use
• Diesel Emission Reductions -
• Grant and loan programs are available to
State and local government agencies in the
US and we need to develop our own
policies after doing research of the benefits
to us.
• We need to do studies on how to provide
incentives. Legal policies and direct rebates
(Research opportunity for students)
•

101. Fuel Quality for wide
scale acceptance

102. Fuel Quality and Specification
• ASTM fuel standards enforceable as of
October 2008
– Specification for B100 updated (D6751)
– New specification for B6 to B20 blends
(D7467) (basis for broad OEM warranty
acceptance)
– New specification classifying blends up to
5% same as diesel (D975)

103. BQ-9000 Fuel Quality Program
• Biodiesel Industry’s “Good Housekeeping”
seal of approval for biodiesel production &
distribution companies
• Quality Control System covers biodiesel
manufacturing, sampling, testing, blending,
storage, shipping, distribution
• In 2008, 90% of the volume was BQ9000
• There are two BQ-9000 designations:
– Producer (make it to spec)
– Marketer (buy spec, keep it in spec, blend it right)

104. Macroeconomic benefits
U.S. Economy example
• Creates Agricultural and Fuel Manufacturing Jobs:
50,000 jobs (mostly rural) ; $4 billion in GDP
• Creates Expanded Markets for Agricultural Products
• Improves Balance of Trade (36 MM imported Crude
Displaced)
• $832 MM to tax revenue

105. Legislative Ideas
Fleet Operators
• In the US companies are Eligible for EPACT
credits
– Federal fleets must purchase alternative fuel vehicles
(AFVs) for 75% of light-duty vehicles
– 50% of light duty AFV purchase requirements can be
met with biodiesel
• Can earn 1 AFV purchase credit for each 2,250
gallons of B20 used or for each 450 gallons of
B100 used
– States and cities are implementing similar
requirements

106. Clean air act.
• A Clean Air Act is one of a number of pieces of
legislation relating to the reduction of smog and
air pollution in general.
• The use by governments to enforce clean air
standards has contributed to an improvement in
human health and longer life spans.
• We need to work on something like this also.
• Another research opportunity.

107. Many other
opportunities
• We need a lot more research
done regarding the feasibility
studies of practical applications
and how to get them introduced
and into action.
•
•

108. Many other
opportunities
• You and biodiesel are the future.
• It is up to you how fast you can
implement the alternatives to
KESC.

109. Thank you for your time today
and for your potential support for biodiesel.
For further information
ATRC.NET.PK
khawar.nehal@atrc.net.pk
92-333-2486216
92-21-38180991