Geoffroy.Esposito.Spring.2009.Energyandwater

coolest kids in the class

__**Diesel to Biodiesel**__
Adam Geoffroy Vin Esposito

__//Questions to be answered://__ 1. What is the problem at hand? 2. What is the driving force of the problem? 3. What are people currently doing or not doing to solve the problem? 4. Pick your favorite of the following list 5. **Explain how it works. THIS IS A BIG ONE!** 6. determine the amount of CO2 it produces or inhibits (THIS REQUIRES A STOICHIOMETRY EQUATION!) 7. determine the amount of water it can generate or purify 8. highlight the best aspects of it 9. describe how the critics would discuss it 10. If it already makes up a lot of the world's fuel/energy supply explailn why. 11. If it doesn't make up much of the world's fuel/energy supply explain why. 12. Try to include a lot of pictures. 13. YOU MUST include quotes from scientists or policy makers. 14. Explain how it could help solve some of the problems or contributes to those problems. 15. Explain what it would take to do your thing better or in a larger scale. 16. Explain who uses that technology and why. If it isn't used very much explain that instead. 17. After learning about it what would you do next to change how its used? why?

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=**The Problem**=

Vehicle emissions are a huge part of pollution in the world today. They contribute to smog and air toxins which have negative effects on health and environmental problems. The driving force of the problem is presented with resent studies showing that of 1999 the 600 million automobiles existent on the planet have resulted in high greenhouse gases and carbon dioxide gases. Both state legislation and Congress have passed strict regulations that limit the amount of emissions in both gasoline and diesel powered vehicles. While gasoline has been restricted since the mid-70's, diesel has only recently conformed to new standards.




 * The Answer **

A demand for fuel efficient vehicles that will lower greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have led scientists and engineers to create engines to run on biodiesel. BioDiesel can be produced through many ways including Vegetable oil, animal fat and plant oil.It has many advantages over regular gas powered vehicles. In fact, when Rudolph Diesel presented his internal combustion engine at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900, his design called for the engine to run on peanut oil. He firmly believed that utilizing biomass fuel was the real future of his design."The use of vegetable oils for engine fuels may seem insignificant today. But such oils may become in the course of time as important as the petroleum and coal tar products of the present time" -Rudolf Diesel, 1912




10&11. At the beginning of 2008, the U.S production of BioDiesel was 2.24 billion gallons per year. Today, not many people have converted their regular diesel to run on veggie oil. The major drawback of using vegetable oil is that it gels at colder temperatures and must be heated prior to reaching the engine's fuel injectors during cold weather. European car factories are starting to do more and more research about the effects of substituting diesel for straight veggie oil, but this has allowed cars to be ready to use veggie ready right off the lot. Too many cars today are non diesel and cannot be fueled by veggie oil, which leads to the access of it. Gasoline requires a lot less effort from the common man. Clearly, people would rather spend the extra money to use gas than put the effort in for BioDiesel. 
 * Major Pros **
 * Diesel engines are uniquely suited to run vegetable oils because the inventor, Rudolph Diesel (1858-1913) originally designed them to run off of peanut oil. Even though the first diesel engine was patented (No. 67207) in 1892, today's diesel engines are not much different from Diesel's first engine. Thus, they are ready, willing and able to run on all kinds of environmentally friendly fuels.
 * Saves money on fuel costs.
 * Reduces emissions. There is a 90% reduction in emissions when choosing to use pure biodiesel over petroleum diesel. As oil-bearing plants such as soybeans grow, they take in carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. The same amount of CO2 is released back into the atmosphere when vegetable oil is burned. This process is referred to as being “Carbon Neutral” because there is an equal exchange in carbon dioxide uptake and release. Burning fossil fuels continually adds to the carbon load of the atmosphere. The current planetary carbon dioxide output is well beyond the Earth’s natural ability to trap it and the atmosphere has the highest CO2 concentration in modern times. Most scientists believe this to be the cause of global warming.
 * Recycles waste oil from restaurants.
 * SVO can (and is) made domestically using renewable crops, employing farmers and helping the local economy.
 * Make a positive political statement. Decrease your reliance on a system that you may criticize. There are alternative sources of energy, now! Help create a new system, one that reflects your values.
 * The use of biodiesel can extend the life of a diesel engine because it is more lubricating, and power output is relatively unaffected by biodiesel.
 * It was stated that about half of the biodiesel industry can use recycled oil or fat, the other half being made of soybean or rapeseed oil, according to the origin of these feed stocks.
 * Biodiesel has a high cetane number (above 100 compared to 40 for normal diesel), which means it is more ignitable that normal diesel. This contributes to easier starting in cold weather and less idle noise, which is always a complaint for diesels.
 * Biodiesel exhaust smells like popcorn and french fries!
 * Major Cons **
 * Some vehicle warranties can be voided by installing a conversion kit and/or using biodiesel. If you have a relatively new car that's still under warranty, this is an important concern and you should check with your car manufacturer.
 * Gathering used oil is messy work. But as the alternative fuel movement gains in momentum, fuel and supplies are becoming more available and easier to implement.
 * There is mixed data on how WVO affects engine life span. Some say the life span is reduced: "McCormick, a senior fuels engineer for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, CO, said studies have shown that running vehicles on vegetable oil can reduce a car's lifespan. 'Those vehicles aren't going to last as long as they would running on conventional fuel,' McCormick said. 'Diesel engines are supposed to be low-maintenance and long-lasting engines. Running on straight vegetable oil, I don't think that's going to happen.'" Source: The Kansas City Star; "One Man's Fish Fry Grease is Another Man's Vehicle Fuel" March 29, 2005. However, many others claim the opposite; "engine wear is greatly reduced, sometimes tripling engine life for engines running on straight vegetable oil."

**Stoichiometry:**
100 lbs of oil + 10 lbs of methanol → 100 lbs of biodiesel + 10 lbs of glycerol

Scientists sometimes have a hard time coming together on new solutions in their fields. However scientists in the movement "Scientists for Biodiesel" all agree that the biodiesel movement is a positive move for the future. Dr Rob Myers, founder and director of the Thomas Jefferson Agricultural Institute, stated "Scientists sometimes have differences of opinion, but this declaration is intended to show the broad consensus among scientists about the benefits of biodiesel". National Biodiesel Board Chairmen Ed Hegland says, "Biodiesel already comes from a variety of feedstocks that can meet today's needs. These scientists are part of the dynamic team that is helping blaze trails for further progress through greater productivity of existing feedstocks and new scientific discoveries."  Biodieselsustainability.com is a website where scientists can log on and post information that they have worked on. They can also sign the Biodiesel Declaration, which is a list of scientists endorsing the benefits of biodiesel. The declaration can be found, among many places, at [] Problem Solver and Large Scale Operations: ** Since biodiesel has such a positive effect on the environment and lessen our dependence on foreign oil, wouldn't it make sense for a company to us it in a large scale operation? The answer is yes. Take a company like FedEx or UPS, who has thousands of diesel powered delivery trucks, that run countless hours and miles per day. The CO2 emissions put out by these companies is already in review in their corporate headquarters, and many claim that such operations are large contributors to air pollutions. Corporate spokes people are already stating that FedEx plans to utilize hybrid electric vehicles for their smaller delivery vans and trucks ( [] ). The same operation could be done with biodiesel on their larger trucks, and new trucks would not need to be built, but only retrofitted to accept the biodiesel. FedEx hubs could get WVO from local restraunts and fast food chains and convert it into biodiesel using converters like Fielmeister. Even if each hub uses biodiesel for just half of their fleet, they could cut costs on fuel and emissions, and they could also help businesses since they wont have to pay for their WVO to be discarded. Users: ** There are hundreds of companies and individuals across the United States that utilize biodiesel technology. Biodiesel.org lists such companies as the Las Vegas Water District, Jones Soda, Maui Dive Tours, and multiple towns that use biodiesel in there vehicles([]). A local area in Attleboro MA has a facility, MBP Bio energy, which uses local restaurants WVO to clean and sell. President of the Minnesota Trucking Company has converted their trucks to biodiesel stating "In the long run, we believe the best solution for the state and national economy is to adopt a single, nationwide diesel fuel standard. We believe biodiesel can be an important component in making that a reality." In Vin Esposito's local area of Westchester, NY, the local town of Larchmont converted multiple Mack garbage trucks to run on biodiesel made from WVO. On top of the hundreds of businesses that run biodiesel, thousands of individuals throughout the US utilize the technology. Biodiesel is best run in diesel engines with the least electronic controls that have mechanical fuel injection and fuel pump systems. Some of the most popular platforms include early VW TDI (turbo diesel injected) vehicles, Mercedes Benz diesels from the 80s and 90s, Ford Indirect Injection (IDI) and Powerstroke vehicles from '88-1997, and Dodge Cummins powered trucks from as early as 1986. A company called Vegistroke, which specializes in Ford's 7.3L 6.0L and 6.4L engines, sells an external fuel systems that includes a filter, pump, and fuel lines, that can be bolted directly onto Powerstroke engines to run biodiesel. 
 * Scientific Critique: **

[[image:http://larchmontgazette.com/2008/articles/graphics/veggietruck.jpg width="500" height="255" align="center" caption="Larchmont Garbage Truck"]]
 Biodiesel is made through a chemical process called transesterfication whereby the glycerin is separated from the fat or vegetable oil. The process leaves behind two products -- methyl esters (the chemical name for biodiesel) and glycerin, a byproduct that can be used for the production of soap. This process can happen on any scale: in a mason jar or in a large-scale production facility. There are hundreds of "recipes" on the web and homemade biodiesel is easily achieved using products like the Fuelmiester ([])
 * How it’s prepared: **

 After all the research and informal readings we did on diesel to biodiesel we both agree that it seems to be a great "green" way to lower car emissions. Today, more people and companies should convert their diesels to using other means of fuel to show their concern about the environment. This Wiki has been very informal about the process and chemistry that goes into Biodiesel and we can only hope that more people use Biodiesel. Smells great, Its cheap and its good for the environment, whats not to love?
 * Our Opinions ** :

 [] [|http://www.uoregon.edu/~sskach/Howtomakebiodiesel.html] [] [] [] [| http://www.biodieselsustainability.com/scientists.html] []
 * Sources:**

Have a good summer D Rike