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Biodiesel

Introduction

   The biodiesel is an ecological fuel that takes the normal diesel’s place. The diesel is made out of petroleum, and this is a non-renewable source. As organic substance, petroleum was made from the biomass, plants, and animals in the past million years. The specialist says that the actual sources of petroleum are going to be enough just for the next thousand of years. The burning of fossil fuels determines in the same time the atmosphere’s pollution with chemical wasted thus resulting global warming.

   Several years ago, in Hong Kong, the biodiesel is created for the first time, from vegetable oils and added methanol or ethanol, NaOH or KOH. An advantage is that you can make biodisel from kitchen oils, like the fast food oils, but it has to be filtered first and the process is called titration.

    Besides biodiesel’s advantages, there are also some questions. The main issue connected to fuels isn’t about the economical efficiency or about the practical utility, but it’s about the energetic strength. Therefore with the burning of biodiesel you get more energy than the energy you used for making it? The biodiesel is made from vegetable oils thus the plants need to be cultivated and this involves using a very big quantity of petroleum, for the growing processes plus the transport done by big vehicles that consumes fuel. Beside this, there is the problem of chemical substances that help plants grow faster and better, obtained from the natural gases and insecticides obtained from petroleum. So in conclusion we can’t have biodiesel without petroleum, we have to see how we can reduce it. From the scientific studies, the invested reverse energetic rate is very small: for 1 baril of petroleum invested you obtain 1,5 baril of biodiesel. For using it in the winter you have to mix at least 50 % with diesel so the jellifying point will drop. In Romania, the Ministry of Economy said that from the second half of 2007, the normal diesel would have to contain 2 % bio-fuel. The quantity of bio-carburetors from diesel will grow up to 3 % (1st January 2008) and on 1st July 2008 up to 4 %. This fuel reduces the CO₂ emission in the atmosphere with 80% and the emission of SO₂ with 100%. Thus vehicles can use the biodiesel without any motor changing. Comparing it with the usual diesel the price is reduced and the toxic waste are fewer, it doesn’t contain sulfur, allows the using of catalytic substances and it doesn’t affect the consumption of fuel or the motor’s titration. It’s a little less inflammable thus resulting an advantage to the storage and transport, the burning point of biodiesel is 150 degrees and the diesel’s burning point is 70. The biodiesel production has other advantages too but the most important is the high energetic efficiency.