Biodiesel, What Is It

In today's world, one can hardly avoid the subject of fuel prices, and fuel supply. For a variety of reasons people have turned away from standard petroleum based fuel sources and looked for a reliable alternative fuel. Biodiesel is one such fuel that experts and enthusiasts have embraced not only their idea of a fuel of the future, but also their choice of fuel for today. But what is biodiesel?

Biodiesel is a fuel that contains some of the same features as conventional diesel. Biodiesel is made from high quality vegetable oils through a manufacturing process that can be done on a large scale - as a refinery or a small scale - such as a home Biodiesel kit. The primary need right now is biodiesel as a substitute for petroleum-based diesel.

In various parts of the world are different plants used as a source of vegetable oil, which is made into biodiesel. Theoretically, all grown vegetables subdivided and converted into biodiesel, but right now most Biodiesel producers use a main crop as their source. In America, the primary crops grown for biodiesel production are corn. Maize, which is one of the more common crops in the U.S., gives an easily accessible supply of plant material for biodiesel manufacturers. In large parts of Europe, rapeseed oil used in biodiesel production. And in Southeast Asia the main plant is grown for the production of biodiesel is soybeans. After going through the manufacturing process, there is little difference in the properties of biodiesel produced from one plant over another.

The process used to manufacture biodiesel from pure vegetable oil known as ester interchange. In the process the vegetable oil is combined with a much smaller amount of methanol. Methanol can be produced by fermentation of starch and sugar, and it can also be produced from natural gas. The vegetable oil and methanol are placed in a small amount of an alkaline catalyst, and it is this process that the chemical composition of vegetable oil is changed. The result is a clean burning fuel with a viscosity (flow properties) are approximately as in standard diesel. During this process, is approximately 90% of what is produced biodiesel fuel, while the remaining 10% is in the form of glycerine, which was broken down from vegetable matter. This glycerin can also be used in other applications in the chemical industry, the production of biodiesel practically waste-free.

The current uses of biodiesel are mainly limited to being a cleaner burning substitute for petroleum-based diesel. Biodiesel can be both economically viable and highly effective for most mobile applications. There will be some performance and usage differences between diesel and biodiesel, which will vary from vehicle to vehicle, as expected. It is possible for most modern diesel engines to burn biodiesel standard. Currently, biodiesel is also marketed as a Biodiesel/ethanol mixture or a biodiesel / diesel mix.

Still a young industry, by any measure, Biodiesel is on its way to becoming one of the brightest lights in the quest for a viable alternative fuel.