Green Chemistry: Bio-Diesel and Bio-Petrol
Abstract
The objective of this project is to study GREEN CHEMISTRY- Biodiesel and Bio petrol and also study
the extraction process of Biodiesel.
Green chemistry is the branch of chemistry concerned with developing processes and products to reduce or
eliminate hazardous substances. One of the goals of green chemistry is to prevent pollution at its source
instead of dealing with pollution after it has occurred.
Introduction
Bio-diesel is an eco-friendly, alternative diesel fuel prepared from domestic renewable resources i.e.
vegetable oils (edible or non-edible oil) and animal fats. These natural oils and fats are made up mainly of
triglycerides. These triglycerides when rea w striking similarity to petroleum-derived diesel and are called
“Bio-diesel”. As India is deficient in edible oils, non-edible oil may be the material of choice for producing
biodiesel. For this purpose, Jatropha curcas considered as most potential source for it. Biodiesel is
produced by transesterification of oil obtained from the plant.
Jatropha Curcas has been identified for India as the most suitable Tree Borne Oilseed (TBO) for the
production of bio-diesel both because of the non-edible oil available from it and its presence throughout
the country. The capacity of Jatropha Curcas to rehabilitate degraded or dry lands, from which the poor
mostly derive their sustenance, by improving the land’s water retention capacity, makes it additionally
suitable for the up-gradation of land resources. Presently, in some Indian villages, farmers are extracting
oil from Jatropha and after settling and decanting it they are mixing the filtered oil with diesel fuel.
Although the farmers have not observed any damage to their machinery so far, this remains to be tested
and PCRA is working on it. The fact remains that this oil needs to be converted to bio-diesel through a
chemical reaction – trans-esterification. This reaction is relatively simple and does not require any exotic
material. IOC (R&D) has been using a laboratory scale plant of 100 kg/day capacity for trans-
esterification; designing larger capacity plants is in the offing. These large plants are useful for centralized
production of bio-diesel. Production of bio-diesel in smaller plants of capacity e.g. 5 to 20 kg/day may also
be started at the decentralized level.
Jatropha curcus seed which is used in the production of high-quality bio-diesel
Activity 1: Making Biodiesel
Making of the biodiesel process
Biodiesel is a mixture of methyl esters of fatty acids (long-chain carboxylic acids). It has similar properties
to the diesel fuel made from crude oil that is used to fuel many vehicles. It can be made easily from
vegetable cooking oil containing fatty acid compounds. Enough fuel can be produced in this activity to
burn in a later activity, although it is not pure enough to be used as fuel in a car or lorry.
The synthesis is a simple chemical reaction that produces biodiesel and propane-1,2,3-triol (glycerol).
Cooking oil is mixed with methanol and potassium hydroxide is added as a catalyst. The products are
separated into two layers, with the biodiesel on the top. The biodiesel is separated and washed and is then
ready for further experimentation.
What you will need
• Eye protection
• Access to a top pan balance
• One 250 cm3 conical flask
• Two 100 cm3 beakers
• One 100 cm3 measuring cylinder
• Five plastic teat pipettes
• Distilled or deionized water
• 100 cm3 vegetable-based cooking oil
• 15 cm3 methanol (highly flammable, toxic by inhalation, if swallowed, and by skin absorption)
• 1 cm3 potassium hydroxide solution 50% (corrosive).
Procedure:
1. Measure 100 cm3 of vegetable oil into the 250 cm3 flask. Weigh the flask before and after to determine
the mass of oil you used.
2. Carefully add 15 cm3 of methanol.
3. Slowly add 1 cm3 of 50% potassium hydroxide.
4. Stir or swirl the mixture for 10 minutes.
5. Allow the mixture to stand until it separates into two layers.
6. Carefully remove the top layer (this is impure biodiesel) using a teat pipette.
7. Wash the product by shaking it with 10 cm3 of distilled or deionized water.
8. Allow the mixture to stand until it separates into two layers.
9. Carefully remove the top layer of biodiesel using a teat pipette.
10. Weigh the amount of biodiesel you have collected and compare it to the amount of vegetable oil you
started with.
Apparatus for Testing Biodiesel
Activity 2: Testing biodiesel
How does biodiesel compare to other fuels? Just because we can produce a fuel from an alternative source,
does that mean it is a good idea? Many factors go into the decision to use alternative fuels. Ideally, the
physical properties of an alternative fuel should equal or exceed those of the traditional product. But how
are fuels evaluated in the first place? In this activity, biodiesel and some other fuels are tested and
compared for sootiness and acidity.
What you will need
• Eye protection
• Small glass funnel (approximately 7 cm diameter)
• One 250 cm3 flask
• Two boiling tubes
• One two-hole stopper to fit the boiling tubes
• Filter pump
• A piece of wide-bore glass tubing approximately 10 cm long with two one-hole stoppers to fit
• A piece of vacuum tubing approximately 35 cm long
• Two short pieces of glass tubing to fit the one-hole stoppers
• 5 cm glass bend to fit the two-hole stopper
• 90o glass bend to fit the two-hole stopper (one leg to extend to the bottom of the flask)
• Two stands and clamps
• Two small metal sample dishes
• A little sodium hydroxide solution of 0.1 mol dm-3 (irritant)
• Universal indicator solution
• A little mineral wool.
Procedure:
1. Pour 125 cm3 of distilled water into the 250 cm3 flask and add 10 cm3 of universal indicator. Add one
drop of 0.1 mol dm-3 sodium hydroxide solution and gently swirl the flask so that the color of the solution
is violet or at the most basic end of the universal indicator color range.
2. Place 10 cm3 of this solution into the boiling tube.
3. Assemble the apparatus illustrated in Figure 1, attaching it to the filter pump with the vacuum tubing.
4. Place 2 cm3 of biodiesel onto a wad of mineral wool in the metal sample cup.
5. Turn on the water tap so the filter pump pulls air through the flask and ignites the biodiesel. Position the
funnel directly over the burning fuel, to capture the fumes from the burning fuel. Mark or note the position
of the tap handle so you can run the pump at the same flow rate later in the experiment.
6. Allow the experiment to run until the universal indicator turns yellow and time how long this takes.
7. Record what happens in the funnel and the glass tube containing the second piece of mineral wool.
8. Clean the apparatus, and repeat the experiment using 2 cm3 of kerosene (this is very similar to diesel
fuel).
Activity 3: Potential for Biofuels
Technical Feasibility
• Can be blended in any ratio with petro-diesel
• Existing storage facilities and infrastructure for petro-diesel can be used with minor alterations.
• From an environment and emissions point of view it is superior to petro-diesel.
• It can provide energy security to remote and rural areas.
• It has good potential for employment generation
2. Sources of Bio-diesel
All Tree Bearing Oil (TBO) seeds – edible and non-edible
Edible: Soya-bean, sunflower, Mustard Oil, etc.
Non-edible: Jatropha Curcas, Pongemia Pinnata, Neem etc.
• Edible seeds can’t be used for bio-diesel production in our country, as its indigenous production does not
meet our current demand.
• Among non-edible TBOs, Jatropha Curcas has been identified as the most suitable seed for India.
3. Advantages of Jatropha
• Jatropha Curcas is a widely occurring variety of TBO
• It grows practically all over India under a variety of agro-climatic conditions.
• Can be grown in arid zones (20 cm rainfall) as well as in higher rainfall zones and even on land with thin
soil cover.
• Its plantation can be taken up as a quick-yielding plant even in adverse land situations viz. degraded and
barren lands under forest and non-forest use, dry and drought-prone areas, marginal lands, even on alkaline
soils, and as agroforestry crops.
• It grows as a tree up to the height of 3 – 5 mt.
• It is a good plantation for Eco-restoration in all types of wasteland.
Trans-desertification Process
• It is the displacement of alcohol from an ester by another alcohol in a similar process to hydrolysis.
• Vegetable Oil i.e. the triglyceride can be easily trans-esterified in the presence of an alkaline catalyst at
atmospheric pressure and temperature of approximately 60 to 70oC with an excess of methanol.
• If 100 gm of vegetable oil is taken, 1 gm of the alkaline catalyst (Potassium Hydroxide), and 12 gm of
Methanol would be required
• As a first step, the alkaline catalyst is mixed with methanol and the mixture is stirred for half an hour for
its homogenization.
• This mixture is mixed with vegetable oil and the resultant mixture is made to pass through reflux
condensation at 65oC.
• The mixture at the end is allowed to settle.
• The lower layer will be of glycerin and it is drained off.
• The upper layer of bio-diesel (a methyl ester) is washed to remove entrained glycerin.
• The excess methanol is recycled by distillation.
• This reaction works well with high-quality oil. If the oil contains 1% Free Fatty Acid (FFA), then
difficulty arises because of soap formation. If FFA content is more than 2% the reaction becomes
unworkable.
• Methanol is inflammable and Potassium Hydroxide is caustic, hence proper and safe handling of these
chemicals are must.
production of biofuel by years{2007-2019}
An ethyl ester of the fatty acid was created (i.e. biodiesel). Soy biodiesel, corn biodiesel, A, and glycerin
were successfully produced. In a burning test, both had a flame of just over four inches with the same
shape and color.
They burn equally well. Because the color and intensity were identical they are probably about equal as
fuels. I used soy oil as a control to test if biodiesel is a better-burning fuel than oil alone.
The biodiesel had a flame that was about three times the height of the soy oil. Soy oil does not burn as well
as biodiesel. Converting vegetable oil to biodiesel provides a usable fuel.
This fuel can be used in diesel engines and perhaps it can be used for cooking and light as an alternative to
kerosene for camping and third world countries.
This project produced biodiesel from different vegetable oils to determine if there is a difference between
them as fuels and to determine if biodiesel is a better-burning fuel than the original vegetable oil.
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