Para.Ouellette.MMA.Spring2009.WaterandEnergy

= = = = = = == = = = = = = = = =B**IO DIESEL** =

=INTRODUCTION =

==**Bio diesel refers to a vegetable oil or animal fat based diesel fuel consisting of long-chain alkyl (methyl, propyl or ethyl) esters. Bio diesel is typically made by chemically-reacting lipids, some examples would be vegetable oil, animal fat and alcohol. It is meant to be used in standard diesel engines and is distinguished from the vegetable and waste oils used to fuel** converted **diesel engines. only for pot smokers** ==

HOW IS BIO DIESEL MADE

 * Biodiesel is made by chemically altering an organic oil (typically vegetable oil) through a process called "transesterification" where the glycerine is separated from the vegetable oil or fat. Essentially, the process thins down the oil to allow it to run in an unmodified diesel engine. **

==Some people say human beings are their own worst enemy. You give them an inch and they take a mile. This is part of the probm concerning the worlds fuels. Since the invention of the internal combustion engine the United States and the rest of the world have become more and more dependent on it. The internal combustion engine during its process of turning thermal energy into mechanical energy gives off huge amounts of carbon and sulfur, contributiing to the evergrowing problem of global warming. Within the last ten years people have been trying to find a cleaner way to run our internal combustion engines. One of the most prominent solutions is the use of biodiesel.==

What is Bio Diesel?
**Biodiesel can be a number of things. The most common is vegetable oil, however the latest discovery is the burning of certain algies, which are produced in our oceans and lakes. Biodiesel is not pure vegetable oil, it is the combination of vegetable oil and petrolium diesel. In fact raw vegetable oil does not meet biodiesel fuel specifications, and is not registered with the Environmental Protection Agency.**


 * __ How it works __**

The diesel engine works similarly to a gasoline engine, however instead of using a spark for ignition as the gasoline engine uses a spark plug, the diesel engine ignites the fuel on compression only. Remember Boyle’s Law? Boyle’s law states that pressure and volume are inversely related. A decrease in volume will lead to an increase in pressure, which would also lead to an increase in temperature. The way a diesel works is simple. The engine sucks air into the cylinder (cylinder-where combustion takes place and pushes the piston down which in return rotates the crankshaft) by the down stroke of the piston.

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After the air is in the cylinder the valves are then closed, and the piston starts to rise (on the compression stroke). The piston pushing the air to the top of the cylinder decreases the volume of the cylinder and increases the pressure and temperature. Right before the piston gets to the top of the cylinder (top dead center) fuel is injected into the cylinder which is around 800* F from compression alone. The fuel hits the cylinder at 800*F, ignites and pushes the piston down. Because diesel fuel and vegetable oil have such a high flash point this is the only way you can use the two in an internal combustion engine. If you put diesel fuel or vegetable oil into a gasoline engine it would not work because the spark alone will not ignite the fuel. ====== C14 - C24 Methyl Ester C19 H36 O2

bio diesel produces 78% less co2 than regular petrol diesel.




 * __ ADVANTAGES __**

1) Diesel engines in general are more fuel efficient than gasoline engines 2)Recycles fryalator waste oil from restaurants. 3)About half of the biodiesel being used comes from restaurants recycled frying oil 4)There is about an 80 to 90% reduction in emissions over regular petroleum diesel 5)Not much needs to be done to convert a diesel engine to run off vegetable oil because the inventor of the diesel engine originally designed it to run off of peanut oil. 6) Biodiesel exhaust gases contain zero sulfur and far less carbon than petroleum diesel 7) If we could rely 100% on bio diesel we could cut back on offshore drilling and also eliminate other environmental hazards that go along with petroleum products 8) Saves money on fuel costs.



**The volkswagon jetta tdi(turbo direct injection diesel) has 140 hp @ 4000 rpm with an estimated fuel efficiency of 40 mpg (highway) You can even look cool using biodiesel!**



The Gulf of Mexico is full of oil rigs like these. Even if we could cut the amount of oil rigs by 10% it would be a huge help. Not only is the actual drilling of the oil set up for an environmental disaster, but think of all the wildlife habitats that have been ruined over the years from the constant moving of rigs like these.

**__ Disadvantages __**

1) Although biodiesel seems like a great idea, to mass produce would be a tough task. Some people say “we should just grow crops and use it to create fuel”. Good idea however, could you imagine using all of the resources we use to produce crops for food, just to make fuel, especially considering there are people around the world on the verge of death from starvation. “Even modest usage of bio diesel would consume almost all crop land in some countries in Europe” 2) Converting a diesel car to run off biodiesel can sometimes void a vehicles warranty. 3) Because bio diesel has a thermal efficiency (the amount of brittish thermal units per gallon of fuel) it would reduce the fuel efficiency of most diesel engines by 10%. 4) The third and biggest disadvantage of bio diesel is its viscosity in cold temperatures. For use at high concentrations in cold weather all of it would have to be transported by truck or railroad. The fuel could not flow through pipes like the petroleum diesel we use today. 5)Sometimes finding and collecting fuel can be arduous and dirty work.



**//__ works cited __//**

[|www.biodiesel.org/pdf-files/fuelfactsheets/emissions]

[|www.bio-power.co.uk/about/htm] l

[|www.vw.com]

[|www.bdpedia.com/biodiesel/alt.html]