Biodiesel auf Deutsch/en
Biodiesel can be made from any Template:Fact grease or oil. It can be used in almost any diesel engine, with little or no engine conversion. However, biodiesel is a more powerful solvent than regular diesel ( petrodiesel W )—so much so that it will not only clean out the fuel tank, sending residue into the fuel filter, but it will also soften and dissolve many rubber and plastic products, including those used in fuel lines, filters, and pumps. This deterioration can take years, however, and the replacement of rubber components does not have to happen immediately. Thus, for long life, a different grade of components in an engine designed for biodiesel is needed.
Biodiesel produces fewer particles than petrodiesel and is therefore much better for the health of the population, especially those living in urban areas exposed to significant levels of diesel pollution.
Contents
Vegetable oil extraction and conversion
The oil extraction process is carried out in the same way as for extracting edible oil from plants. There are many crops grown in rural areas of developing countries that are suitable for oil production—sunflower, coconut, cottonseed, palm, rapeseed, soybean, peanut, hemp, and more. Sunflower oil, for example, has an energy content of over 85% that of diesel fuel.
There are two well-established technologies for oil extraction:
- The press is a simple screw press, which is a device for physically extracting oil from the plant. This technology is well-suited for small-scale production of oil as fuel or food in rural areas. The press can be motorized or hand-operated.
- Solvent extraction is a chemical process that requires large, sophisticated equipment. This method is more efficient—meaning it extracts a greater percentage of the oil from the plant—but less suited to agricultural applications.
The oil, as well as being used for lighting and heating, can be used as fuel in combustion engines.
Biodiesel production is not complicated and can be done on a small scale. Vegetable oil is converted into a usable fuel by adding ethanol or methanol alcohol along with a catalyst to enhance the reaction. Small amounts of potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide (commonly called lye or caustic soda, used in soap making) are used as the catalyst material. Glycerin separates and sinks to the bottom of the tank as the reaction takes place. This removes the component that gums up the engine, allowing a standard diesel engine to be used. The glycerin can be used as a degreasing soap or refined to make other products.
Straight vegetable oil
While it can be used as fuel (new or waste cooking oil), it has a negative impact on the engine after prolonged use. Therefore, it is usually better to process the oil into biodiesel, especially for machines that receive heavy use.
Sources
Biodiesel can be made from any fat or oil, such as:
- fish oils (e.g. in Norway [1] )
- Vegetable oils, which are now often cheaper than regular fuel when bought in bulk and in US, may mean that premium cooking oils are not required.
- used frying fat or oil (which would normally be thrown away due to economic and environmental costs) - takeaway food stores usually have a regular output of this waste.
*Even fat from liposuction operations should be able to be used. Norwegian businessman Lauri Venoy, who owns a company in Miami, Florida, reportedly signed a contract with U.S. hospital giant Jackson Memorial to remove 11,500 liters of human fat per week from liposuction operations.
Proposed projects
- Search for literature discussing the health effects of carrier contamination and various aspects of contamination such as particles versus other pollutants. Template:SP )
- Design a relatively simple, reliable method of converting vegetable oil (waste and/or virgin) into biodiesel to reduce the technical knowledge and resources needed and potentially make it more practical for production in small or medium-sized remote towns. Template:SP
- It is claimed by a guest on an episode of the UK TV show Top Gear, [2] that adding a solvent makes straight vegetable oil runnier (less viscous) and better for use as a fuel. The solvent used in the program is non-kerosene-based white spirit (non-kerosene based for tax purposes) added by volume to 3% of filtered used cooking oil. Does this work? Does it reduce the problems of straight vegetable oil, in terms of the long-term effect on the car's engine and operation in cold weather? Template:SP
| Authors | Dana Martz |
|---|---|
| License | CC-BY-SA-3.0 |
| Derivative of | Biodiesel |
| Cite as | Dana Martz (2008–2023). "Biodiesel in German ." Appropedia . Retrieved June 15, 2025 . |
