Chemistry Project

BIOLFUEL

Name:Varun Poojary
Computer Code:181152
Class: XII C Sci

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 Index

Acknowledgement 3
Certificate 4
Introduction to Biofuels 5-7
Different Sources of Biofuel 8-9
Biomass 10
Biomass Conversion 11
Generation of Biofuels 12-15
Energy contents of Biofuels 16
Types and Basic Composition of 17-19
Biofuels
Biodiesel 20-21
Production of Biodiesel 22
Transesterification 23-24
Pyrolysis 25
Advantages of Biofuels 26-27
Bibliography 28

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

In the accomplishment of this project successfully, many people

have bestowed upon me their blessings and their heart pledged
support, this time I want to thank all the people who have been
concerned with the completion of this project on ‘ Biofuels ‘.

I would firstly like to thank my teacher Mr. Koli whose valuable

guidance was what helped me patch this project and make it a
full proof success. His suggestions and instructions have majorly
contributed towards the completion of this project.

I would also like to thank my parents and friends without whose

valuable suggestions and guidance this project could have not
been completed.

Last but not the least I would like to thank my classmates for the
help they provided me with.

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 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the topics entered in this project file has been
written by
Master/Miss Varun Poojary_ Studying in The Bishop’s Junior College ,
Camp of Class __XII___ Div. C (SCIENCE)

During the academic year __2019-2020__

Teacher’s Signature

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 Introduction to Biofuels

Biofuel is a type of fuel whose energy is derived from biological

carbon fixation. Biofuels include fuels derived from biomass
conversion , as well as solid biomass, liquid fuels and various
biogases. Although fossil fuels have their origin in ancient
carbon fixation, they are not considered biofuels by the
generally accepted definition because they contain carbon that
has been “out” of the carbon cycle for a very long time. Biofuels
are gaining increased public and scientific attention, driven by
factors such as oil price hikes, the need for increased energy
security, concern over greenhouse gas emissions from fossil
fuels, and support from government subsidies. Biofuel is
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considered carbon neutral, as the biomass absorbs roughly the
same amount of carbon dioxide during growth, as when burnt.

Biodiesel as one from important biofuel types is made from

vegetable oils and animal fats. Biodiesel can be used as a fuel
for vehicles in its pure form, but it is usually used as a diesel
additive to reduce levels of particulates, carbon monoxide, and
hydrocarbons from diesel-powered vehicles. Biodiesel is
produced from oils or fats using transesterification and is the
most common biofuel in Europe.

Bioethanol is an alcohol made by fermentation, mostly from

carbohydrates produced in sugar or starch crops such as corn
or sugarcane. Cellulosic biomass, derived from non-food
sources such as trees and grasses, is also being developed as a
feedstock for ethanol production. Ethanol can be used as a fuel
for vehicles in its pure form, but it is usually used as a gasoline
additive to increase octane and improve vehicle emissions.
Bioethanol is widely used in the USA and in Brazil. Current plant
design does not provide for converting the lignin portion of
plant raw materials to fuel components by fermentation.

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Any hydrocarbon fuel that is produced from organic matter
(living or once living material) in a short period of time (days,
weeks, or even months) is considered a biofuel. Biofuels can be
produced from plants (i.e. energy crops), or from agricultural,
commercial, domestic, and/or industrial wastes. Other
renewable biofuels are made through the conversion of
biomass. Biofuels can also be made through chemical reactions,
carried out in a laboratory or industrial setting, that use organic
matter (called biomass) to make fuel. The only real
requirements for a biofuel are that the starting material must
be CO2 that was fixed (turned into another molecule) by a living
organism and the final fuel product must be produced quickly
and not over millions of years.

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 Different sources of biofuel

Here are 4 biofuel sources, with some of their application in

developmental stages, some actually implemented:

Algae :
Algae come from stagnant ponds in the natural world, and
more recently in algae farms, which produce the plant for the
specific purpose of creating biofuel. Advantage of algae focude
on the followings: No CO2 back into the air, self-generating
biomass, Algae can produce up to 300 times more oil per acre
than conventional crops. Among other uses, algae have been
used experimentally as a new form of green jet fuel designed
for commercial travel. At the moment, the upfront costs of
producing biofuel from algae on a mass scale are in process, but
are not yet commercially viable .

Carbohydrate (sugars) rich biomaterial :

It comes from the fermentation of starches derived from
agricultural products like corn, sugar cane, wheat, beets, and
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other existing food crops, or from inedible cellulose from the
same. Produced from existing crops, can be used in an existing
gasoline engine, making it a logical transition from petroleum.
It used in Auto industry, heating buildings (“flueless fireplaces”)
At present, the transportation costs required to transport
grains from harvesting to processing, and then out to vendors
results in a very small net gain in the sustainability stakes.

Oils rich biomaterial :

It comes from existing food crops like rapeseed (aka Canola),
sunflower, corn, and others, after it has been used for other
purposes, that is food preparation (“waste vegetable oil”, or
WVO), or even in first use form (“straight vegetable oil”, or
SVO). Not susceptible to microbial degradation, high
availability, re-used material. It is used in the creation of
biodiesel fuel for automobiles, home heating, and
experimentally as a pure fuel itself. At present, WVO or SVO is
not recognized as a mainstream fuel for automobiles. Also,
WVO and SVO are susceptible to low temperatures, making
them unusable in colder climates.

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 Biomass
Biomass is plant or animal material used for energy production,
heat production, or in various industrial processes as raw
material for a range of products. It can be a purposely grown
energy crop (e.g. miscanthus, switchgrass), wood or forest
residues, waste from food crops (wheat straw, bagasse),
horticulture (yard waste), food processing (corn cobs), animal
farming (manure, rich in nitrogen and phosphorus), or human
waste from sewage plants.

Biomass can be converted to a better and more practical fuel in

three different ways: thermal conversion, chemical conversion,
and biochemical conversion. The conversion produces fuel in
solid, liquid, or gaseous form.

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 Biomass Conversion

 Thermal conversions
Thermal conversion processes use heat as the dominant
mechanism to upgrade biomass into a better and more
practical fuel.
 Chemical conversion
A range of chemical processes may be used to convert biomass
into other forms, such as to produce a fuel that is more
practical to store, transport and use, or to exploit some
property of the process itself. Many of these processes are
based in large part on similar coal-based processes, such as the
Fischer-Tropsch synthesis.
 Biochemical conversion
As biomass is a natural material, many highly efficient
biochemical processes have developed in nature to break down
the molecules of which biomass is composed, and many of
these biochemical conversion processes can be harnessed. In
most cases, microorganisms are used to perform the
conversion process: anaerobic digestion, fermentation, and
composting.

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  Electrochemical conversion
Biomass can be directly converted to electrical energy via
electrochemical (electrocatalytic) oxidation of the material.

Generations of biofuels

 First-generation biofuels
"First-generation" or conventional biofuels are biofuels made
from food crops grown on arable land. The biofuel is
ultimately derived from the starch, sugar, animal fats, and
vegetable oil that these crops provide. With this biofuel
production generation, food crops are thus explicitly grown
for fuel production, and not anything else. The sugar, starch,
or vegetable oil obtained from the crops is converted into
biodiesel or ethanol. Corn, wheat, and sugar cane are the
most commonly used first generation biofuel feed stock.

1st generation biofuels also have several disadvantages.

They pose a threat to food prices since the biomass used are
food crops such as corn and sugar beet. First generation

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biofuel production has contributed to recent increases in
world prices for food and animal feeds.

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  Second Generation Biofuels
Second generation biofuels are also known as advanced
biofuels. Feedstock used in producing second generation
biofuels are generally not food crops. Second generation
biofuels generate higher energy yields per acre than 1st
generation fuels. They allow for use of poorer quality land
where food crops may not be able to grow. The technology is
fairly immature, so it still has potential of cost reductions and
increased production efficiency as scientific advances occur.
However, some biomasses for second-generation biofuels still
compete with land use since some of the biomass grows in the
same climate as food crops. In addition, the process to produce
2nd generation fuels is more elaborate than 1st generation
biofuels because it requires pretreating the biomass to release
the trapped sugars. This requires more energy and materials.

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  Third Generation Biofuels
Third generation biofuels use specially engineered crops such
as algae as the energy source. These algae are grown and
harvested to extract oil within them. The oil can then be
converted into biodiesel through a similar process as 1st
generation biofuels, or it can be refined into other fuels as
replacements to petroleum-based fuels. The diversity of fuel
that algae can produce results from two characteristics of the
microorganism. First, algae produce an oil that can easily be
refined into diesel or even certain components of gasoline.
More importantly, however, is a second property in it can be
genetically manipulated to produce everything from ethanol
and butanol to even gasoline and diesel fuel directly.

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The list of fuels that can be derived from algae includes:
 Biodiesel
 Butanol
 Gasoline
 Methane
 Ethanol
 Vegetable Oil
 Jet Fuel

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 Energy Content of Biofuels

 The energy content of biodiesel is about 90% that of

petroleum diesel.
 The energy content of ethanol is about 50% that of
gasoline.
 The energy content of butanol is about 80% that of
gasoline.
 Most biofuels are at least as energy dense as coal, but
produce less carbon dioxide when burned.
 The lower energy content of biofuels means vehicles travel
shorter distances on the same amount of fuel. This has to
be taken into account when considering emissions.

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 Types and Basic Composition of Biofuels

Derived from living or recently living organisms, or biomass,

the basic composition of biofuels is more complex than the
composition of fossil fuels. While fossil fuels consist only of
carbon and hydrogen atoms, or hydrocarbons, biofuels
contain oxygen atoms, and their chemical composition may
include acids, alcohols and esters.
The different types of biofuels are:-

 Biobutanol
Biobutanol is derived from biomass or produced by
fermentation using organisms found in ruminant animals and
soils. The basic composition of butanol consists of C (carbon), H
(hydrogen) and O (oxygen). The chemical formula for the
butanol molecule is C4H10O. Biobutanol provides more energy
than ethanol and can be blended with gasoline to help reduce
greenhouse gases. Any car that runs on gasoline can run on a
biobutanol blend.

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  Biodiesel

Derived from vegetable oils and animal fats, biodiesel

molecules are esters of long-chain fatty acids containing single
chains of 12 to 24 carbon atoms. The esters contain an alcohol
and a carboxylic acid. The carboxylic acid contains COOH
(carboxyl), and the alcohol contains OH (hydroxide).
Biodiesel burns cleaner than traditional diesel, producing less
sulfur and fewer particulates. Biodiesel delivers slightly less
energy than petroleum-based diesel, however, and is more
corrosive to engine parts.

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  Ethanol
Derived from corn, sugar beets and sugar cane. Containing
carbon, hydrogen and a hydroxide group, the chemical formula
for the ethanol molecule is C2H5OH.

 Methanol
The simplest of alcohols, methanol can be derived from any
plant material as well as landfill gas, power plant emissions and
atmospheric carbon dioxide. The basic composition of
methanol consists of carbon, hydrogen and hydroxide. The
chemical formula for the ethanol molecule is CH3OH. Methanol
combustion produces a lower volume of toxins than gasoline,
fewer particulates and less smog. Methanol is less expensive
than gasoline or ethanol.

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 Biodiesel

Biodiesel extraction
Biodiesel is a clean-burning diesel fuel produced from vegetable
oils, animal fats, or grease. Its chemical structure is that of fatty
acid alkyl esters (FAAE). Biodiesel as a fuel gives much lower
toxic air emissions than fossil diesel. In addition, it gives cleaner
burning and has less sulfur content, and thus reducing
emissions. Because of its origin from renewable resources, it is
more likely that it competes with petroleum products in the
future. To use biodiesel as a fuel, it should be mixed with
petroleum diesel fuel to create a biodiesel-blended fuel.
Biodiesel refers to the pure fuel before blending. Commercially,
biodiesel is produced by transesterification of triglycerides
which are the main ingredients of biological origin oils in the
presence of an alcohol (e.g. methanol, ethanol) and a catalyst
(e.g. alkali, acid, enzyme) with glycerine as a major by-product .
After the reaction, the glycerine is separated by settling or
centrifuging and the layer obtained is purified prior to using it
for its traditional applications (pharmaceutical, cosmetics and
food industries) or for the recently developed applications
(animal feed, carbon feedstock in fermentations, polymers,
surfactants, intermediates and lubricants).

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However, one of the most serious obstacles to use biodiesel as
an alternative fuel is the complicated and costly purification
processes involved in its production. Removing glycerine from
biodiesel is important since the glycerine content is one of the
most significant precursors for the biodiesel quality. Biodiesel
content of glycerine can be in the form of free glycerine or
bound glycerine in the form of glycerides. In this work we refer
to the total glycerine, which is the sum of free glycerine and
bound glycerine. Severe consequences may result due to the
high content of free and total glycerine, such as buildup in fuel
tanks, clogged fuel systems, injector fouling and valve deposits.

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 Production of biodiesel

 Transesterification
The transesterification of vegetable oils, animal fats or waste
cooking oils is the process behind conventional biodiesel. In the
transesterification process a glyceride reacts with an alcohol
(typically methanol or ethanol) in the presence of a catalyst
forming fatty acid alkyl esters and an alcohol. The feedstock for
transesterification can be any fatty acids from vegetable or
animal origin, or used cooking oils (UCO). Typically used
vegetable oils originate from rapeseed, sunflower, soy and oil
palms.

 Pyrolysis
Pyrolysis is a thermochemical treatment, which can be
applied to any organic (carbon-based) product. In this
treatment, material is exposed to high temperature, and in
the absence of oxygen goes through chemical and physical
separation into different molecules. The decomposition takes
place thanks to the limited thermal stability of chemical
bonds of materials, which allows them to be disintegrated by
using the heat.

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 TRANSESTERIFICATION PROCESS

Transesterification or alcoholysis is a multiple step

reaction in which triglycerides are reacted in methanol in
the presence of a catalyst. Transesterification chemically
means neutralizing the free fatty acids in a triglyceride
molecule by removing the glycerin and creating an alcohol
ester. In the first step the triglycerides are converted to
diglycerides. Then the diglycerides are converted to
monoglycerides. Finally the monoglycerides are then
converted to esters (biofuel) and glycerol as a by-product

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 PRODUCTS

The physical characteristics of fatty acid esters are very close to

those of fossil diesel fuels, the high viscosity that pure
vegetable oils display is reduced by the transesterification
process. The exact properties of the finished biodiesel depend
on the raw material. Biodiesel is non-toxic and biodegradable.

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 Pyrolysis

Pyrolysis is a thermochemical process that heats (400 to 500

degrees Celsius) biomass in the absence of oxygen to create
bio-oil that resembles crude oil.To convert bio-oil to usable
transportation fuels, the bio-oil is upgraded through
hydrotreating and hydrocracking. In hydrotreating, hydrogen is
reacted with the bio-oil in order to remove sulfur and oxygen.
In hydrocracking, the hydrotreated bio-oil is reacted again with
hydrogen in order to create smaller chains of hydrocarbons to
meet the specifications of gasoline and diesel fuels .
The process of pyrolysis of organic matter is very complex and
consists of both simultaneous and successive reactions when
organic material is heated in a non-reactive atmosphere. In this
process,thermal decomposition of organic components in
biomass starts at 350 °C–550 °C and goes up to 700 °C–800 °C
in the absence of air/oxygen . The long chains of carbon,
hydrogen and oxygen compounds in biomass break down into
smaller molecules in the form of gases, condensable vapours
(tars and oils) and solid charcoal under pyrolysis conditions.

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 Advantages of Biofuels

1. Cost Benefit: As of now, biofuels cost the same in the market

as gasoline does. However, the overall cost benefit of using
them is much higher. They are cleaner fuels, which means they
produce fewer emissions on burning. Biofuels are adaptable to
current engine designs and perform very well in most
conditions. This keeps the engine running for longer, requires
less maintenance and brings down overall pollution check
costs.
2. Easy To Source: Gasoline is refined from crude oil, which
happens to be a non-renewable resource. Although current
reservoirs of gas will sustain for many years, they will end
sometime in near future. Biofuels are made from many
different sources such as manure, waste from crops and plants
grown specifically for the fuel.
3. Renewable: Most of the fossil fuels will expire and end up in
smoke one day. Since most of the sources like manure, corn,
switchgrass, soyabeans, waste from crops and plants are
renewable and are not likely to run out any time soon, making
the use of biofuels efficient in nature. These crops can be
replanted again and again.
4. Reduce Greenhouse Gases: Fossil fuels, when burnt, produce
large amount of greenhouse gases.These greenhouse gases
trap sunlight and cause planet to warm. The burning of coal and
oil increases the temperature and causes global warming.

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5. Economic Security: Not every country has large reserves of
crude oil. For them, having to import the oil puts a huge dent in
the economy. If more people start shifting towards biofuels, a
country can reduce its dependance on fossil fuels. More jobs
will be created with a growing biofuel industry, which will keep
our economy secure.
7. Lower Levels of Pollution: Since biofuels can be made from
renewable resources, they cause less pollution to the planet.
However, that is not the only reason why the use of biofuels is
being encouraged. They release lower levels of carbon dioxide
and other emissions when burnt. Although the production of
biofuels creates carbon dioxide as a byproduct, it is frequently
used to grow the plants that will be converted into the fuel.
This allows it to become something close to a self sustaining
system.

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 Bibliography

 www.conserve-energy-future.com
 www.biofuel.org.uk
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biofuel
 https://sciencing.com/basic-composition-biofuel

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