grupo de aviaci贸n, ingenier铆a y arquitectura
1. Introduction The name of Biofuels is applied to any fuel derived from biomass. Specifically, Biodiesel is the fuel for diesel engines made from different kinds of vegetable (sometimes animal) oils.
Figure1. Rapeseed flowers and palm fruit
Biodiesel refers to a non-petroleum-based fuel consisting of short chain ( or ) , typically made by of or , which can be used (alone, or blended with conventional petrodiesel) in unmodified vehicles. Biodiesel is and non-, and typically produces about 60% less net-lifecycle emissions, as it is itself produced from atmospheric via in plants. Its emissions of forming hydrocarbon are 65% less, although the emissions are about 10% greater than those from -based diesel. Net-lifetime carbon dioxide emissions can actually differ widely between fuels depending upon production creation. Biodiesel reduces total carbon dioxide emissions currently contributing to anthropogenic global warming compared to those from petroleum-based diesel.
Figure 2. Biodiesel renewable cycle.
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2. State of the art. The raw materials for biodiesel are quite wide: sunflower, palm tree, rapeseed, jatropha, soya ,generally any plants with a big content of oil into their seeds or fruits. In the current framework of petroleum prices and the increasing concern about Environment all over the world, during lasts years all of us have seen a big impulse to renewables sources of energy. According this, and thanks to the high technological level in Biodiesel, this product is able to be used in traditional diesel engines with practically the same performance than diesel from petroleum without any damage for it components. In addition, these biomass fuels such as Biodiesel or Bioethanol send out much less greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.
Figure 3. Biodiesel plant All over the world, more and more countries are making laws with obligation of introducing a percentage of biodiesel mixed with the traditional diesel in the commercial diesel. For instance, in all the states member of the European Union (400 million inhabitants) in 2010 all the diesel s o l d w i l l h a v e a 5 .7 5 % o f b i o d i e s e l i n i t . T h i s s h a r e w i l l b e 2 0 % i n 2 0 2 0 .
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In this situation, with the petroleum more and more expensive (currently over 100 $/barrel) and the actual impossibility of overcome the serious handicaps of hydrogen for vehicles engines, biofuels are the only firm alternative to petroleum for vehicles. Furthermore, biodiesel crops are an exceptional chance for developing agricultural sector everywhere. This way, using biodiesel we reduce the energetic monopoly of the big mineral oil companies, increasing the standard of living of population in producer areas. This is one of the main reasons why Governments are making laws to support the biobuels market. In the biofuels area, biodiesel presents a big advantage to bioethanol. Any diesel car can work with 100% biodiesel, but gasoline cars can not admit more than 15% of bioethanol mixed with gasoline (product known as E15) without making changes in the engines. Europe is the main market of diesel cars (75% of the cars are diesel) and the trend in the future keeps this distribution. Due to the expensiveness of the biodiesel drops that can be used in the European climate (mainly rapeseed and sunflower), the European Union members need to import a big amount of biodiesel to carry out the EU rules. Next, we show a list with the countries with the biggest biodiesel productors: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 3.
Malaysia: 14.000 million litres. Indonesia 7.600 million litres. Argentina 5.300 million litres. USA 3.200 million litres. Brasil 2.500 million litres. Holland 2.500 million litres. Germany 2.000 million litres. Filipinas 1.300 million litres. Belgium 1.200 million litres. EspaĂąa 1.050 million litres.
Biodiesel Technologies.
In order to make a biodiesel that fulfils the requests for diesel engines manufacturers, it is critical to count on high technologies in oils extraction, pre-treatment, and transesterification processes. This is the reason why in GAIA are quite careful in using in our plants only with Hi-Tech scientifically and experimentally tested. EN 14214 norm regulates for the chemical parameters demanded in the European Union Members Biodiesel. Regarding this norm and the vehicle diesel engines manufacturers demands, producing biodiesel is a complex technical process. The apparent simple chemical principles makes that some companies think that making biodiesel is not much more than mixing fatty acids with methanol using sodium or potassium hydroxide as catalyst in a reaction vessel. In these circumstances it is really common to find companies that offer biodiesel production systems that will never be able to be used in a regulated market.
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In addition, there are also companies which guarantee the EN 14214 norm fulfilment, but this supposed insurance is not enough for the potential investor. GAIA only works with the bests process systems manufacturers. Depending on the size of the plant (tons/year of metilester yield), the raw material available and other parameters, GAIA selects the best process technology among marks like Lurgi, Desmet, Westfalia, Biodiesel Technologies, etc for the transesterification step. 1.
One solution for each necessity.
The current trends in biodiesel market are after global factories. Since the drying and storage of the seed to the output of the FAME (Fatty Acid Metilester), everything is part of a flexible process line, and this is our thread of work, as we can see next:.
grupo de aviaci贸n, ingenier铆a y arquitectura
From small plants of 8.000 tons/year of biodiesel production to big factories with more than 100.000 tons/year of yield, GAIA chooses the best transesterification technology, designs and builds: -Process facilities: Seed drying line, seed transport lines, oil pipes and pumps, inputs and outputs terminal, atmosphere inertization, methanol vessel, by-products vessels, boils etc. -General facilities: Electrical net, Transformer, Sanitary Water, Fire Protection, Control Systems etc -Civil Engineering: Silos and auxiliary systems, oil tanks, Biodiesel tanks, buildings for process and offices, workers areas, etc. In Biodiesel plants, GAIA works as an EPC (Engineering, Procurements and Construction) or Turnkey company. We manage the whole project focused in getting the highest quality, with the essential costs and in the shortest time possible. In addition, regarding the intimate relation between biodiesel and agricultural, we are used to offer our consulting services in drops manage for self-supplied plants. If you are interested in the biodiesel business, we will be pleased to put our know-how and experience to your service. We like to work together with our Customer since preliminary steps, orienting them to the optimal solutions for their requests, supported by our knowledge of the biofuels market and its opportunities. GAIA has a large experience in biofuels consulting, making technical and economical reports. This way, the Customer can undertake the investment with the maximum information.