From Refuse to Resource: Campus Biodiesel Production from Waste Vegetable Oil

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From Refuse to Resource Campus Biodiesel
Production from Waste Vegetable Oil

• Jon Jensen
• Luther College

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OUTLINE

• Our Energy Challenge
• Options?
• The Push for Biofuels
• Ethanol and Biodiesel
• Biodiesel at Luther
• Questions Discussion

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Peak Oil

• Petroleum is a non-renewable resource. It is
  inevitable that at some point there will be a
  peak in worldwide petroleum production.
• US peak 1971
• World peak??

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The Hubbert Curve designed by geophysicist M.
King Hubbert
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ASPO crude oil production peaked in 2004 world
oil predicted to peak in 2010 natural gas
predicted to peak 2010-2020
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So what are our options?
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So what are our options?

• Conservation Efficiency

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So what are our options?

• Hydrogen the Silver Bullet?
• The Fuel cell
• Hydrogen Oxygen electricity and water

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So what are our options?

• Hydrogen Problems
• Hydrogen from where?
• An energy carrier, not source
• Methane is current source
• Electrolysis requires electricity (nuclear
  power?)
• Storage
• Takes up more room for equal energy
• Liquid form is cryogenic
• Gas form must be compressed
• Infrastructure

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So what are our options?

• Biofuels

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The Push for Biofuels

• Driven by farm lobby
• Subsidies and mandates
• 2005 Energy Bill
• Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS)
• 7.5 billion gallons of biofuels by 2012

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The Push for Biofuels

• Current production
• Ethanol 3 bil. Gals/year
• Biodiesel 75 mil gallons/year

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Source National Biodiesel Board
http//www.biodiesel.org/
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Bio- What?

• Biofuel Any fuel derived from biomass solid
  (wood, dung, agriculture), liquid (oils,
  alcohols), or gas (methane, hydrogen)
• Ethanol
• An alternative to petroleum gasoline made by
  distilling alcohol from plant starch or fiber
• (U.S. corn, Brazil sugar cane)
• Biodiesel
• An alternative to petroleum diesel made by
  chemically reacting a fat or oil with an alcohol
  in the presence of a catalyst.

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Ethanol and Biodiesel

• I. Energy ratios
• II. Environmental impacts
• a. land effect
• b. land use
• c. emissions
• III. Alternative feedstocks (Crude Energy
  source)
• IV. Economics

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5 Questions for Biofuels

• What is the feedstock?
• What is the energy ratio?
• How much land is used and what are the effects on
  the land?
• How does it affect emissions?
• How do the economics work out?

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ENERGY RATIO
Energy in Energy out
Fuel Co-products
Growing of crop Processing to fuel Transport of
feedstock and fuel Infrastructure
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ENERGY RATIO

• Soy oil extraction and refining demands much less
  energy
• Organic solvent
• Steam
• Some coal-generated electricity
• About 34 of energy allocated comes from
  co-products

ETHANOL 1 1.67 1 0.71
BIODIESEL 1 3.2 1 0.73

• Fossil fuel energy
• Coal
• Corn fermentation and distillation processes
• Nitrogen fertilizer
• 90 of energy allocated comes from co-products

USDA 2002 or NBB Pimentel 2003
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Land Effect

• BIODIESEL
• Soybeans contribute
• to even greater soil erosion than corn
• - Minimal fertilizer (N) required

• ETHANOL
• Corn production
• erodes soil 18 times faster than it can be
  reformed
• Requires heavy fertilizer application

Large Monoculture - biodiversity loss - fewer
natural pest controls - diminished nutrient
regeneration capability in soil
- Increase pressure on marginal land
Pimentel, 2003
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Land Use

• ETHANOL
• - 1 acre corn
• 364 gallons ethanol
• 129 billion gals gasoline/year 354 million
  acres of corn
• 80 million planted 2005

• BIODIESEL
• 1 acre soybeans 54 gallons biodiesel
• 60 billion gals of diesel/year 1.1 billion
  acres of soybeans
• 73.4 million planted in 2005

Food vs. Fuel 7x more land to fuel 1car per
year than to feed one person
Ahmed et. al, 1994 Graboski, 2002
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Emissions

• ETHANOL(E85) vs. petro-gas
• ? 85 CO2
• ? 30 CO
• ? 30 Volatile organic compounds
• ? Particulate matter, sulfer dioxides
• ? 50 Hydrocarbons

• BIODIESEL(B100) vs. petro-diesel
• ? 100 CO2
• ? 43 CO
• ? 100 Sulfur
• ? 56 Particulate matter
• ? 67 Hydrocarbons

? 5-10 Nitrous oxide
Canadian Renewable Fuels Association Morris et
al, 2002
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Economics

• ETHANOL
• E85 2.19/gal
• Petroleum gasoline
• Midwest 2.60/gal

• BIODIESEL
• B100(soy) 2.80/gal
• B100(waste) 1.20-1.40
• Petroleum diesel
• Midwest2.42/gal

www.tcbiodiesel.com www.eia.doe.gov
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Ethanol Subsidies The four-headed monster

• Federal subsidies for corn (nearly 10 billion in
  2005)
• Federal subsidies to makers of ethanol
• State and local incentives to ethanol producers
• State subsidy to ethanol retailers

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Alternative Feedstocks

• ETHANOL
• Cellulose
• Corn Stalks
• Wheat Straw
• Switchgrass
• Wood chips

• BIODIESEL
• Rapeseed
• Peanut, palm, canola, safflower and corn oils
• Oil from algae
• Waste oil - gt4 billion gallons per
  year
• Tallow or other animal fats
• Fish oil

Restaurant grease
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Biodiesel Basics

• Requires a simple chemical reaction
• Products are biodiesel and biodegradable glycerin
• Can be burned in diesel engines without
  modification

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Applications of Biodiesel

• (B100) a neat fuel classifies as an
  alternative fuel
• (B20-B50) blends can be used to meet Energy
  Policy Act mandates (ie. B20 1/5 vehicle)
• (B1-2) small amounts of biodiesel can restore
  lubricity to low-sulfur fuels

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Biodiesel Advantages

• Biodegradable, nontoxic, renewable
• Favorable energy balance 3.2 to 1
• Requires no engine modification
• High cetane number and excellent lubricity.
• Very high flashpoint (gt300F).
• Can be blended with petroleum diesel fuel.
• Lower emissions

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Biodiesel Disadvantages

• Lower energy content than petroleum diesel
  (118,170 Btu/gal 129,050 Btu/gal)
• Soybean oil-based biodiesel will start to
  crystallize at around 0C. This can be mitigated
  by blending with diesel fuel or with additives
• Nitrous oxide concentrations have been seen to
  slightly increase with increased biodiesel
  concentrations.
• Cost is very feedstock sensitive.

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The Biodiesel Reaction TRANSESTERIFICATION

• Oil alcohol catalyst
• biodiesel glycerine

?
?

• Methanol
• Ethanol

?
?
?

• METHYL ESTER
• Ester from oil
• 3 alcohol molecules

• TRIGLYCERIDE
• Refined
• vegetable oil
• Animal fat
• Waste
• greases

• Glycerol
• Soap
• Methanol
• Catalyst
• Water

• Base-catalyzed
• NaOH
• KOH
• Acid-catalyzed

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• Biodiesel Reaction cont.
• In general.
• 100 L OIL 20 L METHANOL ?
• 100 L BIODIESEL 20 L GLYCERINE

600-700 g lye
heat 120F
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How to Make Biodiesel Its a Gas!
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1. Collect the W.V.O.

• Luther Food Services collects about 2400 gallons
  of oil per year from their vegetable oil fryers.
• To dispose of this, it costs about 220 per
  year.

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2. Perform a Titration

• Each batch of oil varies in composition.
• Excess catalyst is needed to compensate for such
  variance.
• A titration determines the extra catalyst needed.

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3. Make Methoxide

• Dissolve the catalyst(NaOH) in methanol.
• using a 15 methanoloil volume ratio

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4. Make a Blender Batch

• As a precautionary measure, a scaled- down
  reaction (500 mL oil) is performed.

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5. The Reactor

• Using 100L of oil, the reaction is carried out at
  a temperature of 115F for about 1 hour.
• The resulting biodiesel and glycerine layers are
  separated.

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6. Insert into car. Fasten Seatbelt.
Cruise.

• Biodiesel can be used in any diesel vehicle
  without engine modification.

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BIODIESEL AT LUTHER

• Student initiated research
• Partnership between Environmental Studies,
  Chemistry and Facilities Management
• Currently Run by Facilities Staff

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BIODIESEL AT LUTHER

• Goals
• Regular production using 100 of waste oil
• Use in grounds equipment

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Diesel Gator, Lawn Mowers
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Biodiesel Production from New Processor

• Produces 80 gallons per batch -- 2,300 gallons
  yearly (replaces 56 of Diesel)

SAVES 5,400/year 46,000 lbs of Carbon
emissions
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