Bio-diesel-an ECO-friendly fuel

Bio-diesel-an ECO-friendly fuel




Tarit Mukherjee*




As our lifestyles become more 'developed' by the day, so does the damage we do
 to the environment. Our every move, from watching television, to working at a computer,
to taking a flight to our favourite holiday destination harms the environment in one way
 or the other. Air and water pollution levels are increasing world over by the day.
Never before has the need to use alternative resources, such as wind, solar and
nuclear energy been so high.

India is one of the largest petroleum consuming and importing countries. India imports
about 70 % of its petroleum demands. The current yearly consumption of diesel oil in
 India is approximately 40 million tones constituting about 40% of the total petro-product consumption. Bio-diesel can be the major replacement in terms of petro-product
consumption by India which is eco-friendly too.


Bio-diesel is a clean burning, eco-friendly natural fuel obtained from tree born oil by
a chemical transformation process called “Transesterification” carried out in a chemical
processing plant. Transesterification is an age old chemical process and is a time tested
method of transforming vegetable oils or fats into bio-diesel.

Bio-diesel is a bio-fuel produced from various feedstock’s’ including vegetable oils
 (such as oilseed, rapeseed and Soya bean), animal fats or algae. Bio-diesel can be blended
with diesel for use in diesel engine vehicles. Bio-fuel – The term bio-fuel applies to any solid,
 liquid, or gaseous fuel produced from organic (once-living) matter. The word bio-fuel covers
 a wide range of products, some of which are commercially available today, and some of
 which are still in research and development. Bio-diesel is a fuel made from plant oils that
can be used in a conventional diesel engine.

Bio-diesel, derived from the oils and fats of plants like sunflower, rape seeds, Canola or
Jatropha (Bhagveranda) can be used as a substitute or an additive to diesel. As an alternative
 fuel bio-diesel can provide power similar to conventional diesel fuel and thus can be used
in diesel engines. Bio-diesel is a renewable liquid fuel that can be produced locally thus
helping reduce the country’s dependence on imported crude petroleum diesel.

Bio-diesel is a safe alternative fuel to replace traditional petroleum diesel. It has high-lubricity,
 is a clean-burning fuel and can be a fuel component for use in existing, unmodified diesel
engines. This means that no retrofits are necessary when using bio-diesel fuel in any diesel
powered combustion engine. It is the only alternative fuel that offers such convenience.
Bio-diesel acts like petroleum diesel, but produces less air pollution, comes from renewable
sources, is biodegradable and is safer for the environment. Producing bio-diesel fuels can help create local economic revitalization and local environmental benefits. Many groups interested
 in promoting the use of bio-diesel already exist at the local, state and national level.

Bio-diesel is not harmful to the environment. A vehicle tends to pollute the environment and
 emits harmful gasses, if injected with HSD whereas if the engine is using bio-diesel it emits
 no harmful gasses rather keeps the environment pollution free. Bio-diesel may not require
an engine modification. Bio-diesel can be blended with diesel so as to improve the efficiency
 of the engine without any hassles. Bio-diesel is cheap. Any Vehicle using Bio-diesel has very
low idle starting noise. It is noted that bio-diesel has a Cetane number of over 100. Cetane
 number is used to measure the quality of the fuel’s ignition. Bio-diesel is cost effective
because it is produced locally.

As it is easy to use, bio-diesel can be used in existing engines, vehicles and infrastructure with
 practically no changes. Bio-diesel can be pumped, stored and burned just like petroleum diesel
fuel, and can be used pure, or in blends with petroleum diesel fuel in any proportion. Power
and fuel economy using bio-diesel is practically identical to petroleum diesel fuel, and year
round operation can be achieved by blending with diesel fuel.
Bio-diesel provides significantly reduced emissions of carbon monoxide, particulate matter, unburned hydrocarbons, and sulfates compared to petroleum diesel fuel. Additionally,
bio-diesel reduces emissions of carcinogenic compounds by as much as 85% compared
with petro-diesel. When blended with petroleum diesel fuel, these emissions reductions are generally directly proportional to the amount of bio-diesel in the blend.
The existence of low volatility nature of bio-diesel, makes it easier and safe to handle than
 petroleum. The danger of accidental ignition increases when the fuel is being stored,
transported, or transferred because of high energy content in all liquid fuels. The possibility
of having an accidental ignition is related to the temperature at which the fuel will create
enough vapors to ignite, known as the flash point temperature. The lower the flash point of a
fuel is, the lower the temperature at which the fuel can form a combustible mixture.
Bio-diesel has a flash point of over 26600F, meaning it cannot form a combustible mixture
until it is heated well above the boiling point of water.

The resources that are used to produce Bio-diesel are locally available. The in-house
production of Bio-diesel provides host of economic benefits for the local communities.
Therefore, bio-diesel is a safe alternative fuel to replace traditional petroleum diesel.