NBC News features BioWillie on Feb. 1, 2006
from the NBC story: Every year, going to and from concerts, [Willie Nelson] logs 135,000 miles "on the road." Only these days, instead of filling up his customized bus with diesel fuel, Willie now pumps "bio-Willie." "It's cheap, and we don't have to start a war over it," he says.
The story did have one downbeat quote:
"Is this going to be the solution to our energy problems?" asks air pollution consultant Todd Tamura. "Is this going to solve all air pollution problems? And the answer is no."
To be clear about one thing, the dominant chemical form in petroleum diesel is normal paraffins (cetane, the molecule for which the "cetane scale" is named, is normal-C16H34 (n-hexadecane)). Vegetable oils are oxygenates. [Perhaps more later. This author [LBE] discussed issues with diesel particulate matter in an article in Energy & Fuels. Inhalation by humans of diesel particulate matter is a big-deal health problem.]
Some technical details of the Nelson fuel on wnbiodiesel.com:
"prior art":
The concept of using vegetable oil as a fuel dates back to 1895 when Dr. Rudolf Diesel developed the first diesel engine to run on vegetable oil. He demonstrated his engine at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900 and described an experiment using peanut oil as fuel in his engine.
In 1911 Rudolf Diesel stated: "The diesel engine can be fed with vegetable oils and would help considerably in the development of agriculture of the countries which use it." In 1912, Diesel said "the use of vegetable oils for engine fuels may seem insignificant today. But such oils may become in course of time as important as petroleum and the coal tar products of the present time."
The other way to fuel a diesel engine with vegetable oil is to reduce the oil's viscosity before it gets into the tank and in this way, neither the engine or vehicle needs modification. Biodiesel is the name of a variety of ester-based oxygenated fuels made from vegetable oils or animal fats. A Methyl ester of vegetable oil or what we now call Biodiesel is very similar to normal petrochemical based diesel fuel.
Its viscosity is only twice that of diesel fuel and its molecular weight is roughly 1/3 of vegetable oil, hence it can be used as a straight petro-diesel replacement. This reduced viscosity vegetable oil is now called Biodiesel with a number of standards like the European EN 14214 standard and American ASTM standard defining exactly what the properties of that oil should be.
Discussion of product:
Biodiesel can be used as a pure fuel or blended with petroleum in any percentage. B5, a blend of 5% Biodiesel and 95% by volume of petroleum diesel has shown improvements in performance, enhanced lubricity and some reduction in emissions. A blend of 20 percent by volume Biodiesel with 80 percent by volume petroleum diesel called B20, has demonstrated significant environmental benefits with a minimum increase in cost.
Why use Biodiesel?
The main benefit derived from using Biodiesel comes from the reduction in emissions generated when using this biodegradable, low toxicity fuel. These emission benefits are gained all the while you are using a fuel that is made from a fully renewable energy source, grown right here in the USA.
Biodiesel reduces carbon dioxide exhaust emissions by up to 80%.
Biodiesel produces 100% less sulfur dioxide than petroleum based diesel, and sulfur dioxide is the major component of acid rain.
Biodiesel reduces exhaust smoke (particulates) emissions by up to 75% so the usual black cloud associated with a diesel engine can be eliminated.
The smell of the biodiesel exhaust is far more pleasant than petroleum based diesel, some times smelling like pop corn or doughnuts if the fuel is made from a waste vegetable oil feedstock.
Biodiesel smells better than diesel fuel so it is a pleasant experience re-filling the vehicle's tank.
Biodiesel is much easier to handle and does not require mechanics to use barrier cream on their hands to protect the skin from cracking or redness.
Biodiesel is much less dangerous to put in a vehicles fuel tank as the flash point of biodiesel is ± 150°C (300°F) as opposed to petroleum diesel which is at ± 70°C (150°F).
Biodiesel degrades about 4 times faster than petroleum diesel after spillage, with most of a spill broken down after just 28 days.
Biodiesel provides significant lubricity improvement over petroleum diesel fuel so engines last longer, with the right additives engine performance can also be enhanced.
Low Sulfur and Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel require additives to add the lubricity back into the fuel, biodiesel is a totally renewable additive for this role and complements the use of ULSD.
Biodiesel reduces the classic diesel engine "knocking" noise.
Biodiesel does not require any changes to the existing storage infrastructure so can be used in any tank or storage facility right away.
Biodiesel can be mixed in with existing diesel to create various mixtures like a B5 or B20 blend.
A diesel engined vehicle does not need to be modified in anyway to use biodiesel.
***
There are patents in this area.
Published application 20050160663
Claim 1: An improved diesel fuel blend comprising biodiesel and low aromatic content ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel.
Published application 20050160662
Claim 1: A diesel fuel cetane improver, the cetane improver comprising: beta-carotene; and 2,2,4-trimethyl-6-ethoxy-1,2-dihydroquinoline.
Published application 20050011112
Claim 1: A process for producing biodiesel, wherein said process comprises the following steps: a) After processing and drying a feed of oleaginous seeds, preparing in a reactor an homogeneous suspension of oleaginous seeds and an anhydrous alcohol in an amount of 4:1 to 0.5:1, at ambient temperature, so as to obtain an emulsion; b) Adding an alkaline alkoxide catalyst to the emulsion obtained in a), the amount of catalyst being of from 0.1 to 5 wt % based on the weight of seeds, and allowing the transesterification reaction to occur during 30 to 90 minutes at temperatures between 30 and 78.degree. C., so as to obtain the desired alkyl esters at 98-100% conversion; c) By filtration, separating the alkyl ester products, obtaining a liquid phase and a solid phase; d) From the liquid phase, withdrawing the alcohol by distillation and decanting the remaining phase, glycerin and the desired alkyl esters; e) From the solid phase, drying and sieving, obtaining carbohydrates for fermentation or cattle feeding and hulls for fertilizer formulation.
Published patent application 20050268535
First claim: A biodiesel fuel additive composition which accelerates combustion phenomenon, reduces ignition delay, improves Cetane number, and reduces particulate emissions while retaining or improving diesel engine performance comprising a mixture of: (a) a fuel conditioner component comprising: (i) from about 10 to about 70 weight percent, based upon the total weight of the additive, of a polar oxygenated hydrocarbon having an average molecular weight in the range of about 200 to about 500, an acid number in the range of about 25 to about 175, and a saponification number in the range of about 30 to about 250, and (ii) from about 10 to about 70 weight percent, based upon the total of the additive, of an oxygenated compatibilizing agent preferably having a solubility parameter in the range of about 7.0 to about 14.0 and moderate to strong hydrogen capacity.
Paragraph 5: Biodiesel is the name for a variety of ester-based oxygenated fuels made from vegetable oils, animal fats, used cooking oil, and waste from pulp and paper industry. It is produced by the reaction between vegetable oil or animal fat and alcohol in the presence of a catalyst. The concept of using vegetable oil as a fuel dates back to 1895 when 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.
See also
www.biodiesel.org/resources/reportsdatabase/ reports/mar/20000701_mar-021.pdf
The story did have one downbeat quote:
"Is this going to be the solution to our energy problems?" asks air pollution consultant Todd Tamura. "Is this going to solve all air pollution problems? And the answer is no."
To be clear about one thing, the dominant chemical form in petroleum diesel is normal paraffins (cetane, the molecule for which the "cetane scale" is named, is normal-C16H34 (n-hexadecane)). Vegetable oils are oxygenates. [Perhaps more later. This author [LBE] discussed issues with diesel particulate matter in an article in Energy & Fuels. Inhalation by humans of diesel particulate matter is a big-deal health problem.]
Some technical details of the Nelson fuel on wnbiodiesel.com:
"prior art":
The concept of using vegetable oil as a fuel dates back to 1895 when Dr. Rudolf Diesel developed the first diesel engine to run on vegetable oil. He demonstrated his engine at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900 and described an experiment using peanut oil as fuel in his engine.
In 1911 Rudolf Diesel stated: "The diesel engine can be fed with vegetable oils and would help considerably in the development of agriculture of the countries which use it." In 1912, Diesel said "the use of vegetable oils for engine fuels may seem insignificant today. But such oils may become in course of time as important as petroleum and the coal tar products of the present time."
The other way to fuel a diesel engine with vegetable oil is to reduce the oil's viscosity before it gets into the tank and in this way, neither the engine or vehicle needs modification. Biodiesel is the name of a variety of ester-based oxygenated fuels made from vegetable oils or animal fats. A Methyl ester of vegetable oil or what we now call Biodiesel is very similar to normal petrochemical based diesel fuel.
Its viscosity is only twice that of diesel fuel and its molecular weight is roughly 1/3 of vegetable oil, hence it can be used as a straight petro-diesel replacement. This reduced viscosity vegetable oil is now called Biodiesel with a number of standards like the European EN 14214 standard and American ASTM standard defining exactly what the properties of that oil should be.
Discussion of product:
Biodiesel can be used as a pure fuel or blended with petroleum in any percentage. B5, a blend of 5% Biodiesel and 95% by volume of petroleum diesel has shown improvements in performance, enhanced lubricity and some reduction in emissions. A blend of 20 percent by volume Biodiesel with 80 percent by volume petroleum diesel called B20, has demonstrated significant environmental benefits with a minimum increase in cost.
Why use Biodiesel?
The main benefit derived from using Biodiesel comes from the reduction in emissions generated when using this biodegradable, low toxicity fuel. These emission benefits are gained all the while you are using a fuel that is made from a fully renewable energy source, grown right here in the USA.
Biodiesel reduces carbon dioxide exhaust emissions by up to 80%.
Biodiesel produces 100% less sulfur dioxide than petroleum based diesel, and sulfur dioxide is the major component of acid rain.
Biodiesel reduces exhaust smoke (particulates) emissions by up to 75% so the usual black cloud associated with a diesel engine can be eliminated.
The smell of the biodiesel exhaust is far more pleasant than petroleum based diesel, some times smelling like pop corn or doughnuts if the fuel is made from a waste vegetable oil feedstock.
Biodiesel smells better than diesel fuel so it is a pleasant experience re-filling the vehicle's tank.
Biodiesel is much easier to handle and does not require mechanics to use barrier cream on their hands to protect the skin from cracking or redness.
Biodiesel is much less dangerous to put in a vehicles fuel tank as the flash point of biodiesel is ± 150°C (300°F) as opposed to petroleum diesel which is at ± 70°C (150°F).
Biodiesel degrades about 4 times faster than petroleum diesel after spillage, with most of a spill broken down after just 28 days.
Biodiesel provides significant lubricity improvement over petroleum diesel fuel so engines last longer, with the right additives engine performance can also be enhanced.
Low Sulfur and Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel require additives to add the lubricity back into the fuel, biodiesel is a totally renewable additive for this role and complements the use of ULSD.
Biodiesel reduces the classic diesel engine "knocking" noise.
Biodiesel does not require any changes to the existing storage infrastructure so can be used in any tank or storage facility right away.
Biodiesel can be mixed in with existing diesel to create various mixtures like a B5 or B20 blend.
A diesel engined vehicle does not need to be modified in anyway to use biodiesel.
***
There are patents in this area.
Published application 20050160663
Claim 1: An improved diesel fuel blend comprising biodiesel and low aromatic content ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel.
Published application 20050160662
Claim 1: A diesel fuel cetane improver, the cetane improver comprising: beta-carotene; and 2,2,4-trimethyl-6-ethoxy-1,2-dihydroquinoline.
Published application 20050011112
Claim 1: A process for producing biodiesel, wherein said process comprises the following steps: a) After processing and drying a feed of oleaginous seeds, preparing in a reactor an homogeneous suspension of oleaginous seeds and an anhydrous alcohol in an amount of 4:1 to 0.5:1, at ambient temperature, so as to obtain an emulsion; b) Adding an alkaline alkoxide catalyst to the emulsion obtained in a), the amount of catalyst being of from 0.1 to 5 wt % based on the weight of seeds, and allowing the transesterification reaction to occur during 30 to 90 minutes at temperatures between 30 and 78.degree. C., so as to obtain the desired alkyl esters at 98-100% conversion; c) By filtration, separating the alkyl ester products, obtaining a liquid phase and a solid phase; d) From the liquid phase, withdrawing the alcohol by distillation and decanting the remaining phase, glycerin and the desired alkyl esters; e) From the solid phase, drying and sieving, obtaining carbohydrates for fermentation or cattle feeding and hulls for fertilizer formulation.
Published patent application 20050268535
First claim: A biodiesel fuel additive composition which accelerates combustion phenomenon, reduces ignition delay, improves Cetane number, and reduces particulate emissions while retaining or improving diesel engine performance comprising a mixture of: (a) a fuel conditioner component comprising: (i) from about 10 to about 70 weight percent, based upon the total weight of the additive, of a polar oxygenated hydrocarbon having an average molecular weight in the range of about 200 to about 500, an acid number in the range of about 25 to about 175, and a saponification number in the range of about 30 to about 250, and (ii) from about 10 to about 70 weight percent, based upon the total of the additive, of an oxygenated compatibilizing agent preferably having a solubility parameter in the range of about 7.0 to about 14.0 and moderate to strong hydrogen capacity.
Paragraph 5: Biodiesel is the name for a variety of ester-based oxygenated fuels made from vegetable oils, animal fats, used cooking oil, and waste from pulp and paper industry. It is produced by the reaction between vegetable oil or animal fat and alcohol in the presence of a catalyst. The concept of using vegetable oil as a fuel dates back to 1895 when 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.
See also
www.biodiesel.org/resources/reportsdatabase/ reports/mar/20000701_mar-021.pdf
posted by Lawrence B. Ebert at 4:10 PM
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