BIODIESEL and VEGETABLE OIL AS A FUEL The idea of using vegetable oils as fuels for diesel engines is over

a hundred years old. Rudolf Diesel conducted engine tests on plant oils and a prototype of his new engine was presented at the Paris exhibition of 1900, running on peanut oil. Plant oils, however, are far ore viscous than fossil fuels which can result in poor co bustion and for ation of deposits. The proble s can be overco e by adapting the engine to the fuel or, ore co only, the fuel to the engine! biodiesel. Biodiesel "iodiesel is a substitute fuel for co pression#ignition $diesel% internal co bustion engines. &t is produced by the transesterification of waste or vegetable oils and ani al oils, or fats with lower alcohols. 'ost vegetable oils can be converted into biodiesel but the cost of the vegetable oil feedstoc( is now a (ey factor in the least cost production of biodiesel for blending with fossil fuel diesel. Advantages of biodiesel )ife cycle e issions of greenhouse gases fro bio diesel ade fro rape oil are clai ed to be **+ lower than fossil fuel diesel. Particulate e issions of biodiesel are easured as ,0+ to -9+ lower than low sulphur fossil diesel and 10#,9+ lower than .)/D $ultra low sulphur diesel%. /01 $oxides of sulphur% e issions fro bio diesel are at least 20+ lower than low sulphur fossil diesel and are co parable or lower than .)/D due to the negligible sulphur content of biofuels. 301 $nitrous oxides% e issions fro biodiesel are slightly higher than those fro low sulphur fossil diesel. 4owever, evidence fro the 5. shows e issions of 301 fro .)/D to be arginally worse than low sulphur fossil diesel. 5 issions of 301 fro biodiesel can be significantly reduced by advancing in6ection ti ing. 7atalytic converters to reduce e issions fro fossil diesel also function effectively with bio diesel. &t should be noted that as biodiesel contains 11+ oxygen it has a lower heating value than fossil diesel. &f using 100+ biodiesel *#8+ ore fuel volu etrically would be expected to be used to aintain the sa e level of power and perfor ance in an engine. The relationship between the input of fossil fuel necessary to produce biodiesel fro rape oil shows a ratio of 191.9 to 19-, depending on the production syste ! a positive gain in energy fro the process. The 5. "iofuels :uels Directive re;uires the .< and other countries to achieve *.=*+ by volu e use of biofuels by ,010. &n 3ove ber ,00* the Transport /ecretary announced the Renewable Transport :uels 0bligation $RT:0%. This states that in the .< *+ by volu e of road fuel sales ust co e fro renewable sources by ,010. &t is hoped that this will reduce 70, e issions by 1 illion tonnes a year. Production of biodiesel The esterification process uses ethanol and a catalyst, either caustic soda $3a04% or potassiu hydroxide $<04%, to produce sodiu or potassiu ethoxide which reacts with the vegetable oil or fat. 'ethyl or ethyl esters, which ta(e the na e of the feedstoc(! Rape ethyl 5ster, /oybean 'ethyl! 5ster etc. and glycerine are produced. The reaction re;uires considerable agitation and can ta(e up to 1 hour to react. 4igh pressure pipe reactors are considered to be the way forward, bringing the reaction ti e down to inutes. The biodiesel can be used as a *+ blend with ultra#low sulphur diesel $.)/D:% with the 53*90 standard for nor al diesel aintained, and thus not affecting engine warranties.

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'ost odern diesel engines can run on pure biodiesel but few anufacturers will stand by a warranty where it is used above *+ inclusion rate. >n 5. standard 531?,1? exists for biodiesel. &n severe winter conditions biodiesel ay suffer fro waxing proble s. The severity of waxing depending on the feedstoc( used. Rape ethyl ester is the least susceptible to waxing. >dditives can be used to overco e the proble . "iodiesel is a solvent and will re ove paintwor(, and can degrade rubber hoses and seals in fuel lines in older cars not using synthetic co ponents. Straig t vegetable oil /traight vegetable oil $/@0% can be used as a fuel but diesel engines will not run on vegetable oil when they are cold. 5ngine odifications are available, either where there is a twin tan( syste , the engine starting and stopping on nor al diesel, or a pre heater that heats the vegetable oil before it enters the fuel syste . E!cise dut" and VAT Duty on road diesel is ?=.1 pence per litre $ppl%. /ince ,00- the .< Aovern ent has granted a ,0 ppl concession on biodiesel duty, thus the duty is currently ,=.1ppl. This duty concession is only applicable to fuels that have undergone the full esterification process and have an ester content of 98.*+. 1 /traight @egetable 0il is regarded as a fuel substitute by 4' Revenue and 7usto s $4'R7% and is therefore liable to the full duty of ?=.1ppl. Duty is payable whether fuel is sold to others or retained for own use. @>T is applicable at the standard rate of 1=.*+ if the biodiesel is sold to others. &f the fuel is for use only by the processor or producer, then @>T is not applicable. "lending biodiesel with ineral diesel negates the duty reduction and duty is payable on the ixture at the full heavy oil rate. "iodiesel used off#road benefits fro a lower rate of duty of -.1-ppl, but if ixed with off#road red diesel $whose duty rate is 8.??ppl%, the full heavy duty diesel rate of *-.,= applies. > further duty concession is delivered by the RT:0 echanis . &f the fuel distribution co panies fall short on the target for ,010 of *+ by volu e bio fuel, they have to buy out the shortfall volu e at 1*pBl. This buy out is redistributed to the bio fuel anufacturers in the .<, so producers could receive between 0 and 1*pBl pay ent depending on the volu e of short fall and bio fuels produced. Oilseed ra#e and single #a"$ent sc e$e energ" to# u# #a"$ent The 5nergy >id Pay ents /che e applies to any crops except sugar beet, grown for energy purposes, including biodiesel, provided that the land used is not set#aside. The pay ent is C?* per hectare, but sub6ect to the axi u guaranteed area so could be sub6ect to deduction if the threshold area is exceeded. Biodiesel #roduction % s$all scale 0n#far production of biodiesel fro rape oil is generating significant interest. / all scale batch refineries are produced by the following co panies9# Areen fuels D www.greenfuels.co.u( .< :uel tech # www.u(fueltech.co "io(ing # www.bio(ing.co.u( .

! producer of "iodiesel must send a sample to #M$% to prove that the ester content is &'()*(
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Martin Davies Nuffield Farming Scholarship Trust 2007

There are a nu ber of statutory regulations that affect this type of operation and are ainly ad inistered by the 5nviron ent >gency. > Pollution Prevention and 7ontrol per it or Easte 'anage ent )icence ay be needed depending on the scale of production, and the latter if used coo(ing oil. The various reactors use different ethods to filter and re ove soaps that result fro the reaction and the resulting water or agnesiu silicate filtrate ust be disposed of safely. 4ealth and safety are i portant considerations in on#far production as ethanol vapour is highly fla able and poisonous, and sodiu and potassiu hydroxide react violently with water. >ll electric otors used in a refinery should be >T51 rated $regulations for controlling explosive at ospheres%. Alycerine produced by the esterification process has a phar aceutical use, but it would be ill placed to factor in any value for this for on far production. &osts of #roduction of biodiesel :eed stoc( costs and fuel duty account for the production can be bro(en down as follows9# ain cost of biodiesel, the costs of

Ite$ :eedstoc( $rape oil% Distribution 5sterification Duty @>T F 1=.*+ TOTAL

&ost ?*.8 8.* 10.,=.1 1*.8 '()*'

Biodiesel #roduction % large scale -.12 'illion tonnes of biodiesel were produced in 5urope in ,00*, Aer any being the ain producer with 1.8= illion tonnes of production. The .< produced *1,000 tonnes. ,008 production is set to increase to 8.0= 'illion tonnes in 5urope, with .< production reaching ??*,000 tonnes. The ain production plants in the .< are >rgent at 'otherwell *0,000 tonnes, Areenergy at & ingha 100,000 tonnes, "iofuels on Teeside ,*0,000 tonnes and D1 oils on Teeside -,,000 tonnes. Biodiesel feedstoc+s The trend in 5urope has been to ove away fro oilseed rape as a feedstoc( for biodiesel production on cost grounds. 7heaper feed stoc(s such as pal oil, used coo(ing oil and soya oil are now co only being used. >ll production facilities in the .< are near a deep water port to enable i portation of cheap feedstoc(. >n indication of feedstoc( prices are as follows9#

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Feedstoc+ 7rude pal oil /oya oil /unflower oil Rape oil .sed coo(ing oil

&ost ,#-l. ,* ??? ?* ,*#-0

Pressing of oilseed ra#e on far$ 7old pressing of rape seed on far yields =*+ of the oil present in the rape. $-0#-?+ of the ?0 D ??+ oil being extracted%. Toll crushing extracts the last oil through the use of hexane solvents. Ear ing the seed before pressing can i prove the oil yield. Rape ca(e or eal produced by pressing is a good ani al feed. >n energy value of *.(wh, per (g resulting fro the oil residue in the ca(e, a(ing it a useful fuel for boilers as a replace ent for wood chip. &f used as a fuel in boilers instead of wood chip, the increased ash production, *+ ash as opposed to 0.*+ fro woodchip needs to be considered. Typical costs of production for rape oil on far are ?*#*0pBl depending ainly on the rape feedstoc( price and on the extent of usage of the press. Rape presses vary significantly in price, but as an indication a Aer an press with the capacity to crush 100(gBhour rapeseed, producing -8 litres per hour or rape oil would cost G1,,*00. Rape oil produced by cold pressing ust be filtered to re ove particles and to prevent gu ing before use as a biodiesel feedstoc(.

/ 0 Davies -.=.08

#eating oil has an energ, value of &(- ./h0l

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Martin Davies Nuffield Farming Scholarship Trust 2007