EP 426 CHEMICAL PROCESS DESIGN AND OPTIMIZATION

Mini Project

Group Name : Gwiyomi

Title : Biodiesel

Name ID
1 Chot Chun Yuan 1001025205
2 Liew Poh En 1001025575
3 Lim Sin Kiat 1001025751
4 Angela Pang Kai Lin 1001025728
5 Ng Yueh Shin 1001025761
6 Aiman Mohammed Belal Sidan 1001128190

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, TECHNOLOGY & BUILT

ENVIRONMENT

14TH MARCH 2014

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

No Caption Page no.

.
1. Introduction 15
2. Alternative Processes of Biodiesel Manufacturing 69
3. Profitability of the transesterification process 9 10
- Price of Catalyst 10 -11
4. Plant Capacity and Material Balance 11 12
5. Process Flow Diagram (PFD) 13
6. Process Description 14 15
7. Product Specification 16
- Physical and chemical properties of transesterification process 17 20
8. Uses and Applications of Biodiesel 21 25
9. Market Survey
- Global Market 26 30
- Local Market
30 33
10. Future Trend 34 37
11. Economic Potential Evaluation 38 40
- Factors determining price of biodiesel 40 42
12. Raw Materials supply and feedstock issues 43 46
13. Safety and Environmental Issue/ Impact 47 52
14. Conclusion 53 55
15. References 56 59

Introduction

Biodiesel, methyl ester can be synthesis by the transesterification of any vegetable oil

and methanol with the aid of catalyst at desired operating temperature and pressure. In

transesterification, the free fatty acid, FFA content of vegetable oil is very important because

it will affect the whole process, especially reaction time as well as the suitable catalyst used.

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Various vegetable oil (Soybean oil, palm oil, coconut oil, palm kernel oil, sunflower oil and

others) that contain different level of FFA will result in different quality of biodiesel with

specific reaction time. High FFA content of vegetable oil will result in longer reaction time

required to produce biodiesel. As compare to low FFA content of vegetable oil, shorter

reaction time is required. For the transesterification process, an overall complete chemical

reaction can be written as:

R1COOCH2 catalyst HOCH2

R1COOCH3

R2COOCH + 3 CH3OH HOCH +

R2COOCH3
F1
R3COOCH2 HOCH2
R3COOCH3

(Triglyceride) (3 Methanol) (Glycerol)

(3 Methyl Ester)

To complete this reaction, those intermediate products (monoglyceride and diglycerine) need

to be completely consumed.

catalyst
Monoglyceride + Methanol Glycerol + Methyl Ester F2

catalyst
Diglyceride + Methanol Monoglyceride + Methyl Ester F3

catalyst
Triglyceride + Methanol Diglyceride + Methyl Ester F4

When all three chemical reactions (F2, F3 and F4) are completed, the 3 moles of methyl ester

will be formed along with the glycerol.

The general property for the biodiesel can be described as below:

Property Classification
Lubricating properties Good
Cetane rating (delay ignition period) High

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 Improvement of mechanical property Reduce wear
Heating value 37.27 MJ/kg
Density 0.88 g/cm3 (880kg/m3)
Phase Liquid
Color Between golden and dark brown
Miscibility of water Medium
Boiling point : vapor pressure High: Low
Flash point >130oC
-water reduce the heating value
-water causes corrosion in fuel system
-water causes paper-element filter to fail
-water will form the ice crystal
Contamination by water -water cause pitting of equipment
Biodiesel is become very important role recently because they are high in demand.

One of evidence is that in United Kingdom (UK), for all transportation fuel must include 5%

of renewable fuel, which can be biodiesel. This is the rule that have been set by UK under

Energy Policy Act 2005. Another evidence is that in 15th September 2007, a very first fully

biodiesel powered trained have been necessary tested. Few researchers have did some

research and modification and convert the usage of biodiesel from 100% to 80% of petro-

diesel and 20% is biodiesel. At the same year, Disneyland use 98% of biodiesel with 2& of

petro-diesel to run the entire park trains. Biodiesel also can be used in aircraft where in 7th of

November 2011, United Airline has used 40% of biodiesel with 60% of petro-diesel jet fuel

to drive a plane and the plane successfully reach the destination at desired time. Others that

this, biodiesel can be used as a heating oil with specific required ratio of biodiesel to petro-

diesel. Generally, it can be used in boilers industry to produce steam as utility. Moreover,

biodiesel can be used to clean the oil spill in shorelines. Biodiesel have a very special

property where it is a very good solvent to crude oil dun to the methyl ester component where

the viscosity of the crude oil can be reduced. Biodiesel is less dense than crude oil and

therefore it can be easy remove from water surface with skimmers at shoreline. Last but not

least, biodiesel can be used in generator. In 2001, a 6MW of backup power system which is

entirely fueled by biodiesel is used. Somehow, researchers have found that using biodiesel in

generator can reduce the emission of toxic by- product such as smog, sulfur, CO 2 emission

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and others hazardous gases. Biodiesel also can be used to produce main detergent (liquid

form and powder form).

In transesterification process, the selection of type of vegetable oil, alcohol and

catalyst have to be carefully done to optimum the process designed. For the alcohol that has

been used in synthesis process of biodiesel, methanol is the most commonly used alcohol

because it is low in cost. However, others alcohol, like ethanol, propanol and butanol, can be

used as raw material, depending on their availability, cost and suitable to the process.

Selection of the alcohol will be further discussed in this study. For the selection of catalyst

(acid or base catalyst), it is always the crucial part. It is because both acid and base catalysts

have its own pros and cons where some factors are beneficial to the process whereas some

doesnt. At certain degree and level, base catalyst will cause a trouble on the equipment

because base catalyst has its limitation where it cannot take the vegetable oil that content high

FFA level. High FFA content of oil in base-catalyzed transesterification will cause the

formation of soap. When soap is form, additional treatment is required for the separation of

soap from product and soap is very hard to separate. Moreover, high FFA level in oil will

cause most of the base catalyst to form soap instead of increase the reaction rate of the

process. If base catalyst is used, the FF content in vegetable oil needs to be carefully

controlled. For the acid catalyst, the major advantages is acid catalyzed transesterification

can take a very high FFA content of vegetable oil and soap will not form instead, water is

form. But, acid also has its disadvantages where it may cause corrosion of the equipment,

fouling or hazardous to the environment when it is discharged. For the selection of vegetable

oil, it is also depending on the availability and the objective of sustainability that have been

designed.
catalyst
a. FFA + Methanol Soap + H2O (Or MeOH)

b. + H2O FFA + MeOH

catalyst 5
In (a.), the possible of the formation of soap from FFA of any vegetable oil and methanol is

very high. Therefore, based- catalyzed transesterification has to be controlled carefully. In

(b.), water will cause the formation or recovery of FFA. At this stage, problem arises where as

more FFA is recovered, the base catalyst will be mainly used to produce soap instead of

producing the biodiesel (methyl ester). These are the biggest disadvantages that can be

foresee and predict for a base- catalyzed tranesterification process.

In this literature review and study, biodiesel is manufactured by using

transesterification process with the aid of acid catalyst. The feedstock that has been selected

is palm kernel oil, PKO and methanol. For the selection of catalyst, acid catalyst is chose as

main catalyst instead of base catalyst although base catalyst is most commonly used by all

biodiesel manufacturing plant. The reason of choosing acid catalyst is because of the future

trend and sustainability purpose, which will be discussed accordingly. For the vegetable oil

selection, palm oil was the first being chose as the ideal vegetable oil and due to

sustainability purpose, eventually palm oil has been replaced by palm kernel oil, PKO. PKO

is oil that extracted from the kernel of oil palm. Moreover, the PKO has higher FFA content

than palm oil, which is 80% and 50%. As compare to palm oil, PKO has a lower cost than

palm oil. Moreover, the FFA content in PKO is higher than palm oil. Since, acid catalyst can

accepted a very wide range of FFA content for any vegetable oil. Therefore, higher FFA

content for PKO should not causes any problem to the process except for the reaction time.

Moreover, alcohol, methanol was chose as the main reactant for the transesterification of

biodiesel instead of others alcohol, such as ethanol, butanol, propanol and others. Upon this

discussion, the economic trend of product, future trend, reaction rate, physical and chemical

property, process flow diagram, material and energy balance and others will be future

discussed in detail.

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 Alternative Processes of Biodiesel Manufacturing

There is only one method to produce biodiesel from transesterification , which is the

reaction between vegetable oil and alcohol.

catalyst
PKO + methanol methyl ester + glycerol

The operating temperature and pressure will be slightly affected by the different type of

catalyst used. Therefore, the operating temperature and pressure will be designed after the

selesction of catalyst is done. The only decision need to be made is the catalyst that used in

this process, which can be acid catalyst, base catalyst and lipase enzyme.

Alternative 1:

Base catalyst
PKO + methanol methyl ester + glycerol

Advantages:

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 1. High reaction rate than using acid catalyst
2. Artefact formation is minimized and the shelf life of the reagent improved if

oxygen-free methanol is used in its preparation

3. Alkaline catalysts are commonly used since, even at room temperature, they show

very high catalytic activity in this reaction.

Disadvantages:

1. Hydrolysis of lipids to free fatty acids can occur if the least trace of water is

present, especially if the reaction is prolonged

2. Methanolic sodium and potassium methoxide will deteriorate with precipitation of

the bicarbonate salt by reaction with atmospheric carbon dioxide. Sometime, it

will form another by-product which will affect the GC analysis.

3. The process is dangerous because it has a very high heat of reaction when

potassium methoxide react with methanol.

4. The presence of water causes undesirable base hydrolysis, so the reaction must be

kept dry (water limited to 0.1 wt % or less). Extra water will promotes soap

formation and catalytic activity will reduce.

5. FFA contain in oils must be lower than 0.5%, if not by-product like unwanted soap

will form. It will cause difficulty in separation, so that the yield will decrease.

Alternative 2:
Acid catalyst
PKO + methanol methyl ester + glycerol

Advantages:

1. Less demanding feedstock preparations compared to base-catalysed reactions.

2. Lower production cost compared to base-catalysed reactions.
3. The performance of acid-based catalyst is not strongly affected by the presence of

FFA in the feedstock.

4. Can directly produce biodiesel from low-cost lipid feedstock (high FFA cotnent),

generally associated with high FFA concentrations.

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 5. Can economically compete with base-catalysed process using virgin oils, especially

when the former uses low-cost feedstock.

6. The completeness of ester formation can be increased with increasing acid catalyst

amount.
7. Product can be easily separated from product stream without using washing
8. Catalyst can be easily removed and can be reusable
9. The high conversion and yield of biodiesel can be easily obtained by carefully control

operating temperature and pressure of the reaction process.

10. Acid catalysed transesterification process will not cause the formation of soap

Disadvantages:

1. Acid-catalysed transesterification process is 4000 slower than base-catalysed reaction.

2. The presence of water affects acid-catalysed reactions more compared to alkali-

catalysed reactions.
3. Acid has a stronger affinity for water. Thus, if water is present in the feedstock or

produced during reaction, the acid catalyst will preferentially bind to water and leads

to a reversible type of catalyst deactivation.

4. If acid catalysed reaction occurs at room temperature, the reaction is very slow and

poor ester conversion is obtained.

5. If heterogeneous catalytic reaction is used, solid catalyst

Alternative 3:

Lipase enzyme
PKO + methanol methyl ester + glycerol

Advantages:

1. Enzyme is more stable that all others catalysts.

2. Enzyme increase the surface area of the bio catalyst
3. Lipase can be regenerated and reused
4. Protection from solvent inhibition

Disadvantages:

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 1. Transesterification with lipase enzyme is still under development, where operating

temperature, pressure, stability of the process not yet commercially developed

2. Very high cost of lipase enzyme
3. Unfavorable reaction yield and reaction time.

Profitability of the transesterification process:

1 mol of oil + 3 methanol 3 Methyl Ester + glycerol

Palm kernel oil

Price ($/lb) = 0.00167
Mol. Wieght (lb/lbmol) = 829

Methanol
Price ($/lb) = 0.2676
Mol. Wieght (lb/lbmol) = 32.04

Methyl Ester
Price ($/lb) = 0.317
Mol. Wieght (lb/lbmol) = 270.46

Glycerol
Price ($/lb) = 0.25
Mol. Wieght (lb/lbmol) = 92.09382

Methyl Ester

Oil Methanol (ME) Glycerol

Mass, lb (mol X MW) 829 96.12 811.38 92.09382
0.1184648 0.11350269

Mass per ME lb (Mass/Mass of ME) 1.0217 4 1 9

Profit, $ 0.312

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 ($ of Product - $ of Reactants)=

Profit = $ 0.312 (Earning profit)

Price of Catalyst:

Catalyst Name Price, $/lb

Acid Catalyst (H2SO4) solution 0.0445
Base Catalyst (NaOH) solution 0.2143
Lipase Enzyme 5
Since, acid catalyst having a lower price than others two catalysts (base and enzyme),

definitely acid catalyst is used as the main catalyst for this transesterification design process.

Lipase enzyme will be eliminated because it is high in cost, and also the operation is still

under development which is not stable.

(Cost) (Final decision)

(Alternative 1: Base catalyzed) Medium Eliminated

(Alternative 2: Acid catalyzed) Cheap Selected

(Alternative 3: Lipase enzyme) Expansive N/A

Simple Synthesis Tree Diagram

Base on the data presented as shown above, acid catalyzed transesterification process

is chose as the main design process and transesterification process will be designed based on

this acid catalyst.

Plant Capacity

129.54 lb/hr (glycerol)

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 (methanol)135.20 lb/hr
Reactor
(oil) 1166 lb/hr 1142 lb/hr (methyl ester)

*Assume 10 million lb/yr of biodeisel need to be produced.

*Therefore, the production rate for ME is 1142 lb/hr
4.2

* 1142 lb/ hr of ME = 2 lbmol/hr

* Since, the stoichiometry for this reaction is 1 + 3 : 3 + 1

For Methanol
*3 mol of ME need 3 mol of methanol
* Therefore 3 mol of methanol = 4.22 lbmol/hr
Feed Flowrate for methanol = 135.20 lb/hr

For Oil
*3 mol of ME need 1 mol of oil
* Therefore 1 mol of methanol = 1.40 lbmol/hr
Feed Flowrate for oil = 1166 lb/hr

For glycerol
*3 mol of ME and 1 mol of glycerol will produced
* Therefore 1 mol of glycerol = 1.40 lbmol/hr
Feed Flowrate for methanol = 129.54 lb/hr

Material Balance
input = output
135.20 + 1166 = 129.44 + 1142
1301.21271.44
(Assume accumulation occur in the reactor)

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Process Flow Diagram, PFD

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 Process Description

Transesterification of biodiesel from vegetable oil (palm kernel oil) and methanol with acid

catalyst (H2SO4) can be described as below:

1. The feedstock (palm oil), have been settled and water content is separated from palm

oil in settling tank, TK-100 for about 30 minutes before it is ready to flow into the

continuous stirring tank reactor.

2. Methanol and acid catalyst (0.25wt% - 0.75 wt%) from TK-101 and TK-102 is

premixed before flowing into CSTR and react. Then, this mixture is pump by P-102

A/B/C into the reactor, R-201 A/B/C.

3. The feed ratio for methanol: palm oil is 30:1.
4. The palm oil is pumped to a certain pressure by P-101 A/B/C and preheated

(approximately 80oC) by E-101A/B in order to reduce the work of CSTR and obtained

a faster reaction rate.

5. Once all feedstock (palm oil, methanol and acid catalyst) flow into CSTR, they will

react and produce biodiesel at 200oC, 7 bar for 3 hours.

6. Under this condition, the conversion of biodiesel is greater than 90% (98.4%).

(NOTE: multiple- stage of reactor can be used. After the first CSTR, there are still content

some of the intermediate product (monoglyceride and diglyceride) which can be future

reacted in second CSTR with small portion of methanol and acid catalyst.)

7. The product stream (biodiesel, excess methanol, trace of water, sulfuric acid, glycerol)

is flow into an extracting decanter, D-301 A/B or centrifugal to separate the biodiesel,

trace of water and unreacted intermediate chemical in trace amount from glycerol and

the rest of the by-product and unreacted materials. This product stream will be

pumped by P-201 A/B in order to slightly increase the pressure so that it will make the

separation efficiency increase in decanter.

8. The pressure for biodiesel stream by using pressure relief valve to reduce the pressure

before it is flow into water in wash water column, T-301. Biodiesel will be washed in

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 T-301 at 190oC and 0.02 bars and dried in D-301 with hot air before produce

biodiesel, methyl ester. Water will be condensed and recycle back to washing column.
9. The bottom product from decanter is entering into mixer, M-301, which calcium

oxide (CaO) is used to remove the acid catalyst (H2SO4) to form CaSO4 and water
CaO + H2SO4 CaSO4 + H2O
10. CaSO4 will be sold to fertilizer manufacturer as feedstock for their unit instead of

discharge to waste water treatment since CaSO4 will causes hardness of water.
11. Then, methanol will be recovered from glycerol by methanol evaporator, E-301 A/B.

The methanol vapor will be condensed (E-302A/B) and form liquid methanol, which

will then recycle back to the reactor by P-301A/B.

12. After the methanol has been removed and vaporized from glycerol, it will be

discharged from methanol vaporizer.

13. The by-product, glycerol can be sold to dealer instead of discharging into waste water

treatment.

Product Specifications

After the biodiesel has been produced, in generally, based on research, 21% of

produced biodiesel will be exported whereas the remaining 79% will be used as domestic

consumption. In Malaysia, government has set that all diesel need to be added with at least 5

percent of biodiesel, B5. As in fact, all palm oil producers believed that they will obtain a

greater return by selling crude palm oil rather than future process and refine the oil to

biodiesel. Furthermore, as research stated, the production of biodiesel stating to slow down

15
and the quite a lot of the palm oil producers which involved in manufacturing of biodiesel as

well quite from biodiesel production. In 2011, the rate of exportation (export to EU, Taiwan

and South Korea) of biodiesel has obviously declined due to the due to the increases of prices

of crude palm oil yearly. Recently in Malaysia, there a few petrol stations have already using

B5 in petro-diesel. With the increase of the cost of feedstock and low domestic demand,

biodiesel production will be continuously dropped. In this literature review, the biodiesel is

designed and produced and exported it to the countries that are highly- biodiesel demand.

In a future of 10 to 20 years, it is foreseeable that biodiesel manufacturing plant might

be totally stop due to the unstoppable increases in price of crude palm oil, as well as the palm

kernel oil. In sustainable way, the alternative should be replacing the high price of palm crude

oil or PKO such as washed cooking oil from al restaurants. Since, in this biodiesel

production, acid catalyst is used which has no limited for the FFA content in the vegetable oil.

Therefore, the washed cooking oil is the best alternative to replace the palm oil and PKO in

future.

Physical and Chemical Properties of the Transesterification Process

1. Comparison heterogeneous and homogeneous catalyst

a. Heterogeneous catalysts:
- 100, 3 wt. % of biodiesel is produced referred to initial oil inserted.
- Bases on the research of Marchetti, he found out that less capital costs are needed in

heterogeneous process. It represents a saving of 40%

- The amount of methanol can be reduced (almost 10%). So that the production costs

can be decreased.

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 - The lack of hazardous chemicals will be produce when using the heterogeneous

catalysts for the process. The economic and environmental benefits will be

significantly higher.
- The formation of glycerine by using heterogeneous is 20% lesser than using

homogeneous production.
- It is realistic to anticipate savings in processing costs resulting from the use of a solid

catalyst instead of a consumable catalyst. Even more, the logistic is further easier

because the solid catalyst lasts for two years

b. Homogeneous catalysts:
- Homogeneous processes use chemicals such as sodium hydroxide and acid for

neutralization which are not used in heterogeneous one. The treatment of the

hazardous chemicals represents 0,25% of final price

- High consumption of methanol. The higher the consumption of methanol, the higher

the production cost needed for the transesterification.

- It will produce out cruder glycerine. Therefore the cruder glycerine can be sold in

pharmaceutical grade. It could significantly decrease the price of biodiesel.

- Lower temperature and pressure are required for the production of biodiesel. This is

because lower temperature and pressure require, it means that the lesser the energy

need to consume. Therefore, industry commonly prefers to use homogeneous catalysts

for the production of biodiesel.

Since, heterogeneous catalytic reaction in transesterification process has not been explored

and developed (which is unstable of process operating) and there are less sources regarding

transesterification process by heterogeneous catalytic reaction in internet. Moreover,

unexpected reaction rate and undesired side reaction may encounter, which will cause even

serious issues as compare to using homogenous catalytic reaction in biodiesel manufacturing.

Therefore, homogenous of catalytic reaction is used to design the transesterification process.

2. Activation energy (Physical Property)

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Figure 1: Three different pathways of transesterification: (a) 1 2 3, (b) 1 3 2 and
(c) 2 1 3

Figure 1 above show the position of the carboxyl group in the transesterification process. The

position of carboxyl group can either in the centre (position 2) or on the outside (position 1

and position 3).

Figure 2: Activation Energy of the Figure 3: Activation Energy of the

transesterification pathway under 18
transesterification pathway under
acidic condition: a) transesterification basic condition: a) transesterification
and b) hydrolysis. and b) hydrolysis.
The figure 2 above has shown the activation energy of each of the three stages of

transesterification and hydrolysis under acidic conditions. Based on the graph show in

Figure 2 and Figure 3, it shown that the activation energy under acidic condition is much

lower than under basic condition. The activation energy is much lower because the seven

membered cyclic transition state is formed by intramolecular bonds between the center

and side carboxyl bonds. The final step in transesterification and hydrolysis will become

less favourable if the formation of cyclic transition state is larger.

3. Triglyceride Profile (Chemical Properties)

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 Figure 4: High-Performance Liquid Chromatograph (HPLC) of palm stearin/ palm
kernel olein mixture before A and after B transesterification.

Figure 4 show the triacylglycerol (TG) profiles of the control (Figure 4A) and the

transesterified blends (Figure 4B) after 6 hours of reaction. The arrows that located above

those triacylglycerol peaks indicating the concentration of the triacylglycerol is increased

after the reaction. If compare the Figure 4A and Figure 4B above, can found out that the

concentration of the several medium chain triacylglycerol such as LaLaO , LaLaM, LaOP,

LaPP and MOM (La, O, M and P representing lauric, oleic, myristic and palmitic acid,

respectively) are increasing after the reaction. Besides that, the concentration of high melting

triacylglycerol such as POP and PPP are decreasing after the reaction.

Uses and Applications of Biodiesel

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1. Passenger vehicles

As an individual consumer, transportation choices make the single biggest impact on the

environment. One of the simplest choices that can be made is to buy a diesel-powered

automobile and burn biodiesel. By doing this to lower the impact that transportation

makes on the environment- and still drive a fun car. For example, Volkswagen is the only

manufacturer currently selling new diesel passenger cars in the US, there are several

choices if you buy used- including Peugot, Volvo, and Mercedes-Benz.

Several passenger vehicles come with a flex-fuel option that allows them to run on

ethanol/gasoline blends from 0 percent to 85 percent ethanol. Even normal gasoline

vehicles can operate on a 10 percent ethanol blend with no problems. Diesel cars and

trucks can run on biodiesel, though older models may need to have their fuel lines and

gaskets replaced with modern synthetic materials, since biodiesel is a solvent. Some

diesel owners have also modified their vehicles to run on straight vegetable oil.

2. Aircraft

Recent testing has shown the viability of biofuel use in the aviation industry, and use of

biofuels to power aircraft is expected to increase substantially in the next decade. Because

current biofuel production relies heavily on crops that also function as food or livestock

feed, emphasis is on developing new sources that don't cause deforestation and compete

with food production. A plant called camelina (part of the mustard family shows early

promise).

3. Railway usage

British train operating company Virgin Trains claimed to have run the UK's first

"biodiesel train", which was converted to run on 80% petrodiesel and 20% biodiesel. 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

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 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).

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 sited 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.

In 2007, Disneyland began running the park trains on B98 (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.

4. Cleaning Up Oil Spills

Biodiesel is known for being environmentally benign. Biodiesel has been tested as

potential cleaning agent for shorelines contaminated with crude oil, and has been found to

increase the recovery of crude oil from artificial sand columns (for example, the beach).

Its also been used in commercial biosolvents shown to be effective in coagulating crude

oil and allowing it to be skimmed off the surface of water.

5. Generating Electricity

In addition to producing hydrogen for vehicle fuel, fuel-cells have power-generation

applications that could utilize biodiesel. The military has already invested $1.8 million in

mobile power-generation using this technology, and it could be available for civilian

applications in the near future.

Biodiesel is already used in conventional power generation. In 2001, UC Riverside

installed a 6 megawatt backup-generator system powered by 100% biodiesel. The project

was a success, and operating smoke typical to diesel generators was virtually non-

22
 existent. Biodiesel can be used in backup systems where the substantial reduction in

emissions really matters: hospitals, schools, and other facilities usually located in

residential areas. It can also be used to supplement solar power in off-the grid homes.

6. Off-Road Equipment

A large percentage of off-road equipment such as vehicles used in agriculture, mining,

forestry, construction, and power and heat production use diesel fuel, making this

equipment suitable for biodiesel use. Diesel for off-road applications has different

standards than diesel for vehicle use, including higher sulfur content that can lead to

environmentally damaging sulfur dioxide emissions. This is because biodiesel has low

sulfur content; off-road biodiesel use can reduce emission levels while lowering the

consumption of nonrenewable resources.

7. Home/Building Heating

Bioheat has has grown in popularity over the last few years, and biodiesel can be used as

a home heating oil in domestic and commercial boilers (Number 2 heating oil is virtually

identical to petrodiesel). While a 20% biodiesel blend (B20) can be used without

modification, higher blends may affect rubber seals and gaskets in older equipment. High

blends of biodiesel will also clean out fuel pipes, which can improve heating efficiency

but may initially cause fuel filter clogging.

A 20% biodiesel blend will reduce the emissions of both sulfur dioxide (SO2 acid rain)

and nitrogen oxides (NOx pollutants that contribute to ground-level ozone) by 20% over

the entire range of air settings. It is also possible to use biodiesel as a home-heating fuel if

furnace is an oil-burning furnace, and then use any biodiesel blend- from B5 to B100.

There are currently several customers of Dr. Dan's Alternative Fuelwerks, in Seattle, who

have biodiesel delivered for home use.

8. Cleaning Up Tools and Grease

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 B100 is such a good solvent that it can clean dirty or greasy engine or other machine

parts. Fill a bucket with B100 (100% biodiesel), drop in the tool or part that needs

cleaning, and see what happens (note: best to try this with less-expensive tools first).

Moreover, biodiesel makes an awesome bike-chain degreaser/lubricator. If chain starts to

squeak, just add a little B100 and see what a world of difference it makes. Biodiesel can

also be used as an industrial solvent for metal cleaning, which is advantageous due to its

lack of toxicity or environmental impacts.

9. Removing Paint and Adhesives

Biodiesel can replace the exceedingly toxic products designed for paint removal. Its

probably best used for smaller-scale and non-critical applications. Biodiesel can also be

used to remove adhesive residues, like those left by duct tape.

10. Adding Lubricity to Diesel Fuel

In 2006, all diesel fuel was required to reduce its sulfur concentration from 500 ppm to 15

ppm. Since sulfur provided most of the fuels lubricity, a substitute is required to keep

diesel engines functioning properly and avoid premature injection pump wear.

Biodiesel naturally has less than 15 ppm sulfur concentration anyway, and adding just 1

to 2% biodiesel can restore the lubricity to diesel fuel.

11. Biodiesel Reduces Life-Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions

When biodiesel displaces petroleum, it significantly reduces greenhouse gas (GHG)

emissions. By one estimate, GHG emissions (including carbon dioxide [CO 2], methane,

and nitrogen oxide [NOx]) are reduced by 41%, if biodiesel is produced from crops

harvested from fields that were already in production. When plants such as soybeans

grow, they take CO2 from the air to make the stems, roots, leaves, and seeds (soybeans).

After the oil is extracted from the soybeans, it is converted into biodiesel. When the

24
 biodiesel is burned, CO2 and other emissions are released and return to the atmosphere.

This cycle does not add to the net CO 2 concentration in the air because the next soybean

crop will reuse the CO as it grows. When fossil fuels such as coal or diesel fuel are

burned, however, 100% of the CO2 released adds to the CO2 concentration levels in the

air.

12. Reduce Foreign Oil Dependence

In 1973, the oil-producing nations of the Middle East stopped exporting oil. Oil prices

rose. Economies across the globe suffered. In the United States, people waited in line for

hours to buy what little gasoline there was. The embargo was a cold slap in the face to the

rest of the world. Governments scrambled to find new ways to deal with the energy crisis.

Eventually the oil-producing countries lifted the embargo, but our thirst for oil continued.

While growing sustainable energy crops at home will lessen the nation's reliance on

foreign oil, most experts agree it will not solve our energy woes in one blow. Instead,

biofuel use, coupled with long- and short-term solutions such as raising fuel economy

standards for motor vehicles; enacting tax incentives for hybrids and fuel-cell vehicles;

and increasing the use of all renewable fuels will help the United States -- and the world

-- wean itself off oil.

25
 Global Market of Biodiesel

The article published in Amber Waves, USDA, ERS (Economic Research Service

U.S. Department of Agriculture) by William Coyle state that the global biofuel production

has tripled from 4.8 billion gallon in 2000 to about 16.0 billion in 2007. Based on the article,

it is shown that about 90 percent of the biofuel production was concentrated in United States,

Brazil and the European Union. Another 10 percent of the biofuel production was by another

country like China, India, Thailand and etc. Figure 1 shown the Global Biofuel Production

between 2000 and 2007 and Figure 3 show the pie chart of the country that product biofuel.

Figure 1

Figure 2

26
 Based on the World Development Report 2008, it state that the amount of the

biodiesel were produced in 2006 was 6.5 billion liters. In the 6.5 billion liters of biodiesel,

that are 75 percent was produced in European Union, 13 percent was produced in United

States and 12 percent was produced by others country. Figure 3 below showed the pie chart

of the biodiesel production in different country.

Figure 3

At 2001, biodiesel was start used commercially. The production and consumption for

biodiesel is started to increase year by year (refer to Figure 4).

Figure 4: United States Annual Biodiesel Production and Consumption from 2001

2011

27
 Based on the Figure 4, it show that the production and consumption of the biodiesel

are steadily annual increase from 2001 2007 and it start to fell from 2008 2010. Partly of

the reason is because the tax credit of biodiesel, providing a $1.00 per blended gallon

incentive, it was expired at the end of the 2009. At the 2011 year, the production and

consumption of the biodiesel was recovered strongly. The production and consumption

increased when the tax credit was reinstated at the end of 2010. Additionally, demand for

biodiesel is increasing as blenders need to reach new mandates under Renewable Fuel

Standard (RFS). Table 1 below show the summary of consumption, production, gross import

and gross exports from 2009 2011.

At 2013, U.S. production of biodiesel was 128 million gallons in November 2013.

Biodiesel production during November 2013 was about 4 million gallons lower than

production in October 2013. Biodiesel production from the Midwest region (Petroleum

Administration for Defense District 2) was 66% of the U.S. total. Production came from 112

biodiesel plants with capacity of 2.2 billion gallons per year.

28
 Figure 5

Cost:

Figure 6

Figure 7 shows the retail price of biodiesel over the period January 2008 through

April 2012. While the biodiesel tax credit was not effective during 2010 or 2012, the price of

biodiesel was not substantially higher during these years than it was at other times. However,

the price of biodiesel in 2011 did not decrease substantially in 2011 compared to 2010

although the tax credit was reinstated for 2011, including retroactive credits for biodiesel

produced in 2010.

29
 Figure 7

Research on the Biodiesel Demand in Local Market

The depletion of fossil fuels, coupled with the increasing awareness of environmental

protection, has led to concerted and escalating R&D efforts in search of renewable and

environmental-friendly alternative energy sources. The recent strong demand for renewable

fuels has resulted in tremendous increased production of biofuels worldwide. From the

economic point of view, the utilization of the bioenergy such as biodiesel may not be as

economically attractive as using conventional energy, but this should not prevent its

widespread use as the concern towards depletion of the fossil fuels and increasing

environmental concerns must also be addressed.

Malaysias first commercial-scale biodiesel plant commenced operations in August

2006. From August to December of that year, a total of 55 000 tonnes of biodiesel were

30
produced in Malaysia. This increased to 130 000 tonnes in 2007. The main feedstock used

was RBD palm oil, accounting for 94 per cent of the total palm oil processed by biodiesel

plants. At the end of 2007, 92 biodiesel projects57 located in Peninsular Malaysia and 35

in East Malaysiahad been approved, with a combined production capacity of 10.4 million

tonnes per year. However, at that time only five plants were in operation with a combined

capacity of 400 000 tonnes per year. A further seven plants with a capacity of 615 000 tonnes

had been constructed but were yet to commence operations.

Since late 2007, the dramatic increase in the price of CPO has caused many biodiesel

producers to suspend operations. As of September 2008, there were 14 functional biodiesel

plants in Malaysia, eight of which were in production. The remainder had suspended

operations given high feedstock prices.

Malaysias biodiesel sector continues to struggle up till now. Nonetheless, the

government has pledged to continue supporting the sector, and seeks to complete

implementation of a 5 percent blend (B5), followed by a 10 percent blend (B10) in 2014.

Since B5 and petroleum based diesel are priced the same, and consumers would not have any

reason to switch to or search for B5. The demand for biodiesel remains low.

As of December 2012, there were 10 biodiesel plants operating in Malaysia with total

capacity of 1.50 million tons. Production in 2012 was 140,983 tons, in which 28,983 tons for

export and 112,000 tons went to domestic consumption. Production of biodiesel in 2011 was

18.6% higher at 173,220 tons than in 2012 with export of 49,999 tons. With plans for full

availability of B5 in 2013 and 2014, production is forecast to grow, and to continuing

growing through 2015 with the introduction of the 10 percent blend. Biodiesel use is still low,

but the Government of Malaysia hopes that with the full implementation of B5, use may

approach 500 million liters.

31
The price estimates in Table 4.4 match closely those cited by the government. The Ministry

for Plantation Industries and Commodities, for example, has noted that the average price of

CPO between January and March 2008 was RM 3 433 per tonnes According to Table 4.4, this

CPO price would correspond to a cost of production for biodiesel of between RM 3.65 and

32
RM 4.50 per liter, depending on the methodology used for calculation. The Ministry

estimated that, in March 2008, the cost of producing biodiesel was RM 3.86 per liter. This

compared unfavorably with a market price of RM 3 632 (RM 3.23 per liter) for the biofuel.

Therefore it can be concluded that the market price of biodiesel depends mainly on the prices

of crude oil feedstock being used.

Generally, it is not economically viable to use palm biodiesel in Malaysia as our petroleum

diesel is still relatively cheap. This is mainly due to the subsidy for petroleum diesel for

transport given by our Malaysia Government. In 2007, Malaysia exported around 75 per cent

of total biodiesel production to overseas market. This is because it is very feasible for

overseas markets where the petroleum diesel is very expensive and price for biodiesel is high.

This makes palm biodiesel very competitive as palm oil is cheaper than other vegetable oils.

33
 Future Trend

The biofuels industry is taking it slowly with next-generation biofuels, which are generally

created from biomass waste. First generation biofuels, embraced by many governments as an

easy way to ensure fuel security and improve green credentials, get a bad press. Most are

created from sugar, starch or vegetable oil. Growing such feedstock crops on fertile farmland

has sparked media outrage and public outcry and created a food versus fuel debate.

1) The Retreat of Oil Majors

An early strategic investor in the advanced biofuels industry, global oil majors have

begun trimming excess fat from their biofuel investment portfolios over the past couple of

years. BP, a leading investor in the biofuels industry, pulled out of its commercial

Highlands Park project in Florida in October 2012 to refocus on R&D efforts. Shell,

meanwhile, has dropped a number of investments across the advanced biofuels landscape,

concentrating its commercialization efforts on its Raizen joint venture with Cosan in

Brazil.

Similar investment shifts have coincided with a shale gas glut that may mark the

beginning of what the International Energy Agency (IEA) is calling the Golden Age of

Gas. The Agency predicts that over the next 25 years gas will be the fastest-growing

34
 energy source leading some energy experts to predict that gas could displace oil in the

transportation sector. Although a major overhaul of natural gas infrastructure is unlikely

in the near-term, in an era of cheap gas, relatively expense biomass conversion

technologies will face a steeper uphill battle to price parity.

2) Mind the Gap

In recent years, new biorefinery construction has declined rapidly, with new facility

commissions dropping from a 2008/2009 high of 30 in the U.S. to fewer than 10 in 2012.

Advanced biorefineries are marching decisively down the road to scale, but have yet to

match the biorefinery boom of the last decade.

Meanwhile, global biofuels consumption mandates continue to put pressure on the

advanced biofuels industry to keep pace with growing demand for alternative fuels.

Sagging production in 2013 will be less a function of industry malaise, and more a

combination of industry consolidation, irresolute policy momentum, production of higher

value bio-based chemicals, and the retrofitting of brownfield facilities. As the current

decade comes to a close in 2020, however, 2013 is likely to mark the point at which the

advanced biofuel industry gained its sea legs and decisive investments among strategic

investors laid the foundation for future growth.

35
3) Green Diesel Leads the Way

Among advanced biofuel conversion pathways, the hydroprocessing of fats, oils, and

greases has proven to be one of the most bankable conversion platforms over the past

couple years. These facilities boast larger average capacities than their conventional

diesel counterparts, taking better advantage of economies of scale. While feedstock access

remains a concern, based on public data, renewable diesel facilities are currently being

built at between $2 and $4 CAPEX per gallon, compared to more than $10 per gallon for

most cellulosic and thermochemical-based pathways.

4) Waste Reins Supreme

Among advanced biofuel feedstocks, waste is currently the king of the heap. Although

2012 saw promising ventures like Terrabon succumb to bankruptcy, both Municipal Solid

Waste (MSW) and waste industrial gases are benefitting from a surge of investment and

R&D focus, with key partnerships across the waste value chain announced in the U.S.,

China, and India.

Leading the way are companies like Ineos Bio, Fulcrum BioEnergy, and LanzaTech, all

barreling towards widespread scale-up. Ineos Bios Vero Beach facility is an important

milestone for MSW-based feedstock, demonstrating the viability of co-producing ethanol

and power for the grid at scale. If project economics hold up, an increase in investment

around MSW is likely to follow. On the other side of the country, Fulcrum Bioenergy is

36
 aiming to produce 10 mgy of ethanol from waste by the end of 2013 at its first

commercial facility in Nevada. Focused primarily on the Asian market and striking key

partnerships with major industrial companies across India and China, LanzaTech is

pursuing a relatively flat runway to commercialization with little geographical or

feedstock competition at the moment. In 2013, the company is expected to continue

inking partnerships across Asia Pacific while making significant strides towards

commercial scale-up.

5) From Security to Sustainability

With an oil and gas bonanza underway in the Western Hemisphere, experts across the

energy landscape are anticipating a rebalancing of the geopolitical landscape. A report

published by the Chatham House in October argues that declining oil imports from the

Middle East to the U.S. could potentially shift the onus of policing the flow of oil from

the Persian Gulf from Western powers to oil-thirsty countries throughout Asia Pacific.

The implications are many namely, a shrinking dependency on alternative fuels to

provide energy security within the U.S. and Brazil with the biofuels industries

potentially losing their primary raison detre. With more oil and gas production on the

horizon, these countries are seeing more hydrocarbon options to lubricate their growing

economies. Biofuel production juggernauts like the U.S. and Brazil are seeing more

wiggle room to be more selective about how biofuels are produced and at what cost it

produced. While rising oil prices will continue to impact the global economy and its

fragile recovery, sustainability is likely to be a key differentiator among feedstock and

biofuel pathways in 2013.

6) Reduction of GHG Emissions

37
 At present biofuels are once again at the centre stage of the debate on energy due to high

and volatile oil prices and oil supply instability. In addition, a strong global consensus

nowadays advocates for reductions in GHG emissions as a crucial step to combat rising

global temperatures. Governments seeking to curb emissions are now promoting biofuels

because of their potentially cleaner emissions profile as compared to fossil fuels (Tyner

and Taheripour, 2007). New and innovative biofuels are expected to contribute to efforts

to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions, improve energy security and aid development.

For development of new biofuels some properties are focused as it can be produced

without harming the environment or local populations. It will not cause negative effect on

food production and it will need minimal resources, such as water and land, so that it can

be processed efficiently to yield high-quality liquid biofuels; and deliverable in sufficient

quantities. Some of the new biofuels are lignocellulosic biofuels, algal biofuels,

electrofuels (use microoganisms typically bacteria to directly utilize energy from

electricity and do not need solar energy to grow or produce biofuels), thermochemically

generated fuels etc.

Economic Potential Evaluation

For our assignment, we are choosing palm oil based crude oil as our feedstock (palm kernel

oil). The figure below shows that the availability of palm oil as feedstock in Malaysia is

better compared to other oils and the product yield is also the highest.

38
Three of the most important criteria for economic sustainability are profitability (the price of

the biodiesel exceeds the production costs), efficiency (the maximum amount of yield is

obtained with a given quantity of resources) and equity. The imperative of sustainability

requires that we clearly consider these criteria in both the short and long term. Hence, from

the perspective of sustainability, the first objective is to ensure the long-term economic

viability of the productive system.

The first criterion for long-term viability of a production system utilizing resources to

produce a marketable output is that it shows economic profitability: producers will only be

willing to pursue biodiesel production if it is economically profitable. Key factors that can

affect profitability include alternative competitive uses of the feedstock and energy prices.

Alternative uses of the feedstock play an important role in the decision making process of

producers. If prices for biodiesel fall below the prices of other possible end-products (food,

feed, timber, etc.) it would be more profitable to cultivate these products than to derive fuel

out of the feedstock. Accordingly, their prices determine the price floor for biodiesel. To be

profitable and competitive with fossil fuels, biodiesel production costs have to stay below the

39
price of the oil equivalent. Therefore, oil prices set a price ceiling for the price of biodiesel. If

costs exceed this value, the biodiesel will be automatically priced out of the market.

In Malaysia, palm oil for biodiesel production can be grown easily in Malaysia. The

production of biodiesel has been hindrance with fluctuations of biodiesel price year by year

around the globe, and was weakened by the decreasing production of biodiesel in Malaysia

until it reaches almost zero in 2011. This is due to the economic factors in palm biodiesel

industry that experienced extreme price fluctuations of palm oil over the year.

Malaysian government founded its first 100,000 tonne biodiesel refinery in December 2007

that would produce 12,000 tonnes of pharmaceutical-grade glycerol. By February 2011,

Malaysia had 29 plants with a maximum production capacity of 3.37 million tonnes per year,

but only 10 biodiesel plants produced biodiesel. Industry hoped to export biodiesel to other

countries, but crude palm oil prices remain high, making biodiesel uncompetitive. Malaysia

could use biodiesel to offset its petroleum production. If Malaysia diverted all its crude palm

oil in 2009 into biodiesel, it could supply 19.8 billion liters, or 333.5% of its domestic

market. Consequently, Malaysia could replace its diesel with palm oil biodiesel, and have

plenty of palm oil remaining to export. Unfortunately, Malaysia would still extract petroleum,

unless it found a substitute for its gasoline.

If the worlds petroleum price rises, then the Malaysian government boosts its

subsidies to maintain the fixed retail price. With the help of tax incentives for biodiesel

producers and retail companies providing biodiesel at their gas stations, people are

encouraged to use biodiesel. Unfortunately, the diesel fuel prices are cheap in Malaysia while

palm oil biodiesel remains expensive. Subsidy would make it difficult for the palm oil

biodiesel to compete with diesel fuel. Malaysian palm oil industry would produce glycerol as

a by-product of biodiesel and could sell glycerol to help offset the biodiesel costs. The

40
Malaysian government generally sees the development of biofuel crops as an opportunity to

generate employment and to become more independent from fossil fuel imports. However,

only 6 million tonnes of palm oil per annum is allowed to be used for future biodiesel

productions so it does not impact crop and food prices.

Factors determining price of biodiesel:

In most cases, the factors that determine the biodiesel fuel prices manufactured by different

clean energy companies are the cost of transportation and the cost of purchasing raw

materials. In some places, the raw materials will be easily available while in other cases they

may not be easily available. Hence, people will need to transport the raw materials from other

locations which will end up increasing the final cost. On the other hand, the companies which

have easy to access to the raw materials and do not have to spend a lot of money in their

transportation will be able to reduce their manufacturing cost. In turn, they will be able to

reduce the final prices of the biodiesel they manufacture.

41
 Curren

t price difference between diesel and biodiesel is about 11 euro cents per liter: price of diesel

on gas-station is 1.11 Euro (1.44 USD) per litre incl. petroleum tax, compared with 1 Euro

(1.3 USD) /litre for biodiesel. Significant price changes in the future are not expected.

42
Palm oil production is predicted to increase from 23.6 million metric tons in MY 2010/2011

to 25.4 million metric tons in MY 2011/2012. Palm kernel oil, in parallel with an increase in

palm oil production, is predicted to have an increase in production to 2.96 million metric tons

respectively in MY 2011/2012. One of the main market risk is the fluctuating price of the

crude oil used. Since the market price of biodiesel depends mainly on the prices of crude oil

feedstock being used, which is palm kernel oil, therefore the price of the biodiesel can be

estimated accordingly.

43
 Feedstock Issue and Raw Materials Supply

Palm Kernel Oil (PKO) is the raw material used as feedstock for the production of

biodiesel. Palm kernel oil is found in the kernel or the seed of the fruit while palm oil is found

from fleshy portion of the fruit. Both oils have very different fatty acid compositions. Palm

oil contained of 50% saturated fat and 50% unsaturated fat. In more specifically, the palm oil

contains of approximately of 44% of palmitic acid, 5% stearic acid, 39% oleic acid

(monosaturates), and 10% of linolenic acid (polysaturates). However, the Myristic acid and

lauric acid are negligible.

Conversely, the fatty acid composition of palm kernel oil resembles coconut oil or any

other oil which contained highly-saturated fat. Approximately 82% of palm kernel oil is

saturated fat with the main contributors of 48% lauric acid, 16% myristic acid and 8% of

palmitic acid. Approximately 18% of palm kernel oil is unsaturated with 15% oleic acid

(mono-saturates) and only 3% of linolenic acid (poly-saturates).

Palm kernel oil is widely used and was processed into a variety of non-food products such as

soaps, candles, rubber processing, cosmetic products, fuel for carswith modified engines, and

as a substitute for diesel oil for drilling mud.

Palm kernel oil can be collected or produced through mechanical extraction, whereby, the

mechanical extraction processes are suitable for both small and large capacity operations.

There are three basic steps in these processes, such as:

(a) Kernel pre-treatment

(b) Screw pressing
(c) Oil clarification

44
 Diagram 2: Mechanical extraction of palm kernel oil.

Line (A) indicated the flow process of direct screw-pressing without kernel pre-treatment.

Line (B) is for partial kernel pre-treatment followed by screw-pressing, while, Line C is for

complete pre-treatment followed by screw-pressing.

A proper kernel pre-treatment is necessary to efficiently extract the oil from the

kernels. The feed kernels are to be cleaned from foreign materials that may cause damage to

the screw-presses, increasing maintenance costs and down time, and contamination of

products. Magnetic separators commonly are installed and used as a metal detector to remove

metal debris, while vibrating screens are used to sieve sand, stones or other undesirable

materials.

A swinging hammer grinder, breaker rolls or a combination of both then breaks the

kernels into small fragments. This process increases the surface area of the kernels, thus

facilitating flaking. The kernel fragments subsequently are subjected to flaking in a roller

mill. A large roller mill can consist of up to five rollers mounted vertically above one another,

45
each revolving at 200-300 rpm. The thickness of kernel cakes is progressively reduced as it

travels from the top roller to the bottom. This progressive rolling initiates rupturing of cell

walls. The flakes that leave the bottom nip are from 0.25 to 0.4 mm thick.

The kernel flakes are then conveyed to a stack cooker for steam conditioning, the purpose of

which is to:

to adjust the moisture content of the meal to an optimum level;

rupture cell walls (initiated by rolling);

to reduce viscosity of oil;

coagulate the protein in the meal to facilitate separation of the oil from protein materials.

The meal flows from the top compartment down to the fifth compartment in series. At

each stage a mechanical stirrer agitates the meal. Steam trays heat the cookers, and live steam

may be injected into each compartment when necessary. The important variables are

temperature, retention time and moisture content. In the palm kernel, the meals are normally

cooked to a moisture content of 3 percent at 104-110C.

Then, the properly cooked meal is then fed to the screw-press, which consists of an

interrupted helical thread (worm) which revolves within a stationary perforated cylinder

called the cage or barrel. The meal is forced through the barrel by the action of the revolving

worms. The volume axially displaced by the worm diminishes from the feeding end to the

discharge end, thus compressing the meal as it passes through the barrel.

The expelled oil drains through the perforation of the lining bars of the barrel, while the

de-oiled cake is discharged through an annular orifice. In order to prevent extreme

46
temperatures that could damage the oil and cake quality, the worm-shaft is always cooled

with circulating water while the barrel is cooled externally by recycling some cooled oil.

Lastly, the expelled oil invariably contains a certain quantity of fines and foots that need

to be removed. The oil from the presses is drained to a reservoir. It is then either pumped to a

decanter or revolving coarse screen to remove a large part of the solid impurities. The oil is

then pumped to a filter press to remove the remaining solids and fines in order to produce

clear oil prior to storage. The cakes discharged from the presses are conveyed for bagging or

bulk storage.

Based on the diagram attached (Diagram 2), it is shown that the procedures for

mechanical extraction of palm kernel oil can be varied in either using direct screw-pressing,

partial pre-treatment or a complete pre-treatment. A direct pre-treatment simply operated

where kernels will be crushed by some mills directly in the presses without undergo any pre-

treatment. Double pressing usually is required to ensure an efficient oil extraction. The screw-

presses used normally are less than 10 tonnes per unit per day. However, if kernels are

initially broken down to smaller fragments by grinding prior to screw-pressing, the process is

considered undergoing a partial pre-treatment. And, in some cases, cooking may be carried

out. Besides, a complete pre-treatment can be described as a process carried out early prior to

screw-pressing as where industrial plants with larger capacities (approximately of 50 500

tonnes per day) would choose for a complete pre-treatment.

However, palm kernel oil as feed stocks generally have a high moisture content and free

fatty acid content, which may cause saponification, leading to a lower conversion rate and

poor fuel quality. It has been suggested that such feedstock should be pre-treated to achieve a

moisture level of less than 0.06 wt % and a free fatty acid content of less than 0.5 wt %.

47
 Safety and environmental issue/impact

1. Methyl Ethyl ketone

Methyl ethyl ketone has been detected in both indoor and outdoor air. Methyl

ethyl ketone can be produced in outdoor air by the photooxidation of certain air

pollutants, such as butane and other hydrocarbons. Methyl ethyl ketone has been

found in drinking water and surface water at a number of sites. Exposure to

methyl ethyl ketone could also occur at the workplace and through exposure to

household products containing the chemical. Methyl ethyl ketone evaporates when

exposed to air. It dissolves when mixed with water. Most direct releases of MEK

to the environment are to air. It can also evaporate from water and soil exposed to

air. Once in air, it is expected to break down to other chemicals.

Microorganisms that live in water and in soil can also break down MEK.

Because it is a liquid that does not bind well to soil, MEK that makes its way

into ground can move through the ground and enter groundwater. Plants and

animals are not likely to store methyl ethyl ketone.

2. Catalyst
Measurement of SO2, sulfuric acid mist and greenhouse gas emissions from

sulfuric acid plants requires careful selection of instrumentation. Ecotech offers

a complete monitoring solution tailored to this industry. The most important

environmental issues facing the sulfuric acid manufacturing industry are

atmospheric releases of SO2 and sulfuric acid mist. The principal source of

48
 pollutants is from the burning of sulfuric acid sludge, which creates SO2. Most

of the SO2 made in a sulfuric acid plant is converted to sulfuric acid and

recovered, but a portion of the chemical is emitted to the atmosphere.

The monitoring and reporting of CO2 emissions will also become important as

countries introduce carbon trading schemes and other measures to combat

global warming and release of sulfur dioxide from metal sulfide smelters. Most

SO2 gas emitted is used to make sulfuric acid.SO 2 emission into the atmosphere

by industry is now strictly controlled by government regulations. The National

Pollutant Inventory , Department of Environment and Heritage, Canberra

database monitors industrial sources of SO2 in Australia.

3. Methanol
Methanol is a naturally occurring, biodegradable alcohol that is present in our

environment and can even be found out in space. Methanol occurs naturally

during the decomposition of different plant and animal life, and we come into

contact with it every day in fruits, juices, and even wine. Though larger quantities

of methanol can be toxic if ingested, this naturally occuring molecule has a very

low impact when released into the environment because of how quickly it

biodegrades. When methanol is released into the environment it rapidly breaks

down into other compounds, is completely miscible in water, and serves as food

for a number of different bacteria. This is why methanol is often employed in

numerous industrial applications like wastewater treatment facilities to help

remove nitrogen from effluent streams or as an anti-freeze component and

corrosion inhibitor in oil and gas exploration.

Environmental consulting firm Malcolm Pirnie prepared a study entitled

'Evaluation of the Fate and Transport of Methanol in the Environment. This

research looks at the impact that methanol has when released in different

scenarios, and results from laboratory and field studies documented in the

49
 literature and computer modelling were used to assess the fate and transport of

methanol in the environment. This report concluded that "methanol spills to the

soil, groundwater, and surface water will quickly biodegrade under both aerobic

and anaerobic conditions."

Building upon that study, the scientific and engineering consulting

firm Exponent completed another study that looked at the specific use of methanol

in hydraulic fracturing fluids from natural gas recovery. This white paper, titled

'Methanol Use in Hydraulic Fracturing Fluids' looked at specific scenarios related

to this industrial application. This report also concluded where methanol will

rapidly biodegrade in these situations as well, and will not have adverse impacts

on health or the environment in the result of a spill.

4. Wastewater
Wastewater irrigation poses several threats to the environment via contamination

by nutrients, heavy metals, and salts. Increased loads of nitrates in wastewater

may increase the risk of groundwater contamination. The risks can be markedly

reduced, however, by appropriately matching plant production systems to effluent

characteristics. High-yielding crops with large amounts of nitrogen in their

biomass would be more effective than tree plantations at reducing nitrate leaching.

However, the most important sustainability constraints are due to salinity and

sodicity. Salinity is a pragmatic constraint for many horticultural reuse schemes.

For example, at Australias Werribee horticultural irrigation scheme, which

commenced in 2005, salinity concerns lead to a precautionary approach where the

wastewater is mixed with river water before being (MWSRW 2004). Sodicity

induces changes in the soils physical properties, the most notable effect being the

dispersion of soil aggregates. Dispersion, in combination with other processes,

such as swelling and slacking, can affect plants through decreasing the

50
 permeability of water and air through the soil, water-logging and impeding root

penetration. We are currently investigating sodicity management for the Australian

viticulture industry, which is keen to exploit the benefits of wastewater irrigation.

The research programme comprises two main parts: studies on the likely impact of

waste-water irrigation on soil structural properties in vineyards, and an assessment

of the performance of a range of soil amendments and row management practices.

Another hidden impact is increased production of greenhouse emissions. Water is

heavy and transport costs can be high. For example, a large agricultural reuse

project in Australia was recently shelved primarily because the environmental

externalities associated with pumping water uphill, i.e. greenhouse gas emissions,

were too great. This issue is not unique to wastewater, and other solutions such as

desalination can be equally energy-hungry.

5. Calcium Oxide
The environmental effects of calcium oxide and calcium hydroxide are minimal

when properly used. Calcium oxide (quicklime) reacts promptly with water to

form calcium hydroxide (hydrated lime). Re-carbonation by air or bicarbonate ion

in surface waters converts calcium hydroxide to calcium carbonate, the same

mineral in limestone. The high pH (12.45 @ 25C) is naturally reduced to the 7.8

to 8.5 range. Normal precautions of working with chemicals must be taken to

protect workers and the environment, but the reactions of lime moderate its

effects. The principal hazards are (1) high temperatures of hydrating calcium

oxide, (2) the irritating nature of lime dust to the eyes and lungs, and (3) alkaline

chemical burn to mucous membranes and the eyes if splashed lime (dust or slurry)

is not promptly washed off.

Calcium oxide reacts with water or water vapor to form hydrated lime. Hydrated

lime reacts with carbon dioxide or carbonate ions, forming sparingly soluble

calcium carbonate (calcite). Any excess hydrated lime in the environment is

51
 naturally converted to harmless minerals. The normal pH of lime slurry (pH =

12.4 @ 25C) is reduced as re-carbonation converts the hydrated lime to calcite

(pH ~ 7.8 - 8.3). The excess lime concentration and the access to carbon dioxide

determine how rapidly the pH drops. Good exposure to air achieves near complete

re-carbonation in a few days.

6. Calcium Sulphate
Sulphur (as sulphate) is a major plant nutrient, and is essential for crop growth.

Gypsum is listed as an inorganic fertilizer, with no nitrogen, phosphorus or

potassium, but 18% sulphur, and a good source of calcium. Calcium Sulphate is

used to improve soil quality. The most important applications are for the

reclamation of sodic soils through ion exchange (calcium replacing sodium) to

reduce run-off water and its resulting erosion in dry agricultural areas as an

ameliorant for acidic sub-soils and soils in forestry to improve Ca - and S-

nutritional elements in agriculture (rape and cereals). Gypsum is also useful as an

additive for soils with high levels of sodium.

Calcium Sulphate is the least soluble among the family of sulphates. The ion

sulphate (SO42-) has no adverse effect on health, even at concentrations

corresponding to a saturation of CaSO4 (app. 1500mg/l). Several studies failed to

find any association between exposure to high levels of sulphates (i.e. sodium

and/or magnesium sulphates in concentrations mostly up to 1200 mg/l, sometimes

up to 2000 and more mg/l) and diarrhoea or other adverse health issue. At 25C a

litre of water saturated with calcium sulphate contains 1.45g of sulphate (SO 42-)

and 0.65g of calcium (Ca2+). When the water is saturated, an addition of calcium

sulphate will not change the concentration of sulphate. This concentration can

only increase if another sulphate (e.g. Magnesium sulphate) is added into the

water. The concentration of sulphate in groundwater highly depends on the nature

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 of the natural ground: in gypsum areas, groundwater may be saturated (1.45g of

sulphate per litre) and in this case the addition of gypsum will not change the

sulphate concentration.

7. Palm-kernel oil:
Palm-kernel oil also comes with environmental issues. In some regions of the

world, native rainforests have been cleared to make way for the cultivation of oil

palms, thanks to rising demand for palm oil. In addition to being used in cooking

and personal care items, this oil can also be distilled into biofuel, and because of

its low expense, many biofuel manufacturers have turned to palm oil and palm-

kernel oil. Clearing of rainforests for oil palm plantations has obvious

environmental effects, and in some regions, the cost of palm-kernel and palm oil

has climbed so high, thanks to the demand, that people cannot afford these oils for

cooking.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the sustainability of the design plant will be discussed; where in this

transesterification process, palm kernel oil, PKO and methanol are used to produce biodiesel

(methyl ester) and glycerol as by-product with the aid of acid catalyst. The sustainability of

the designed plant is based on the raw materials and catalyst selection, waste management

and plant operating cost. First, let discussed about the raw materials and catalyst selection. As

mentioned in introduction, the reason of choosing PKO as raw vegetable oil materials instead

of crude palm oil is because PKO have higher FFA content than crude palm oil, which is 80%

and 50% respectively. But, the price of crude palm oil is cheaper than PKO according to the

53
palm oil pricing up to date of March of 2014. Let consider the following condition: Crude

palm oil which contain 50% of FFA and it is cheaper is use to produce biodiesel which is low

in quality (due to low initial FFA content). When compare to the actual plant operating cost,

if palm oil is used as raw material, it may results in a longer the time of recover of operating

cost because low selling price of the low quality of biodiesel. For the PKO that contain 80%

of FFA and slightly expensive than crude palm oil is use to produce biodiesel which is high in

quality (due to high initial FFA content). When compare to the actual plant operating cost,

PKO will result in a shorter the time of recover of operating cost because high selling price of

the high quality of biodiesel.

Next for the alcohol selection, methanol is used and selection as alcohol feedstock.

The reason is that methanol is very lost in cost and easy to obtain. There is also a possibility

to us ethanol as alcohol raw material, depending on the process that has been designed. For

the others large molecular weight of alcohol, butanol also can used as raw alcohol material.

Butanol somehow bring advantages to the transesterification, where butanol is highly

miscible with the lipid feedstock, and the high elevated boiling points of the butanol made the

liquid to operate in reactor at high temperature and moderate pressure with the aid of acid

catalyst. For the catalyst selection, acid catalyst is used (H2SO4) in this transesterification

process even though base catalyst (NaOH) is commonly used in actual biodiesel production

plant. The reason of choosing acid catalyst is that transesterification process need to be

optimized by allowing this process accept a very wide range of FFA content in any source of

vegetable oil or animal fat. This is one of the advantages of using acid catalyst in

transesterification process. By applying this advantage, high FFA content of vegetable oil,

PKO should be used. Moreover, assume palm oil or PKO are finished from supply after 30

years, and then this designed transesterification process pant still can be operated without any

54
palm oil or PKO, where both of them can be replaced by waste cooking oil, or even animal

fats.

For the waste management, it included the washed water from wash water column, T-

301, water vapour from drier and the unrecovered acid catalyst handling. For T-301, the main

function is to wash away all of impurities, trace amount of by-product, trace amount of

intermediate product, and water by counter currently flow the water from the top of the

column. The washed water will be send to waste water treatment for further removal of toxic

substances before it is ready to discharge to the environment. For the acid catalyst, it needs to

be reacted with calcium oxide, CaO instead of recycle it. This is happening in the mixer, M-

301. It is because the acid catalyst is in a very small amount. It is not reliable and not

economical to recycle a trace amount of acid by spending a lot of money on designing a

column, which can only recycle very small amount of acid. There is no doubt that CaO is

slightly costly, but the total amount of money that used to purchase this type of chemicals

will be recovered since high quality of biodiesel is produced. Then, the product (CaSO 4 and

H2O) from mixer can be sold to fertilizer manufacturer as the feedstock of their

manufacturing process. Further, since transesterification is an exothermic reaction. Therefore,

to utilize the external heat, a stream of water in a small pipeline is circulating around the

CSRT so that the temperature of the water will be slight increase before the water is flow into

the boiler to steam. By doing this, the work and duty of the boiler can be slight reduce and

therefore the cost of operating can be saved. Last but not least, if this designed is scale up to

real plant application and investment has been done, we do believed that the operating cost

will be recovered within a short period of time (estimated: approximately 5 years) because

the demand of biodiesel in global is very high. The biodiesel that has been produced can be

exported and sold to overseas demanding country (Taiwan, Brazil, Europe and South Korea).

55
Not only exporting, biodiesel can be sold within Malaysia to few petro companies (Shell,

Petronas, BHP and Esso) that use B5 in their petro-diesel product.

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