Daily Special Current Affairs Material for IAS (Pre) 2013 - Topic: "Bio Diesel – An Eco Friendly Fuel"

Chapter: Science & Technology

Topic: Bio Diesel – An Eco Friendly Fuel

Q. What is Bio-diesel?

Ans. Bio-diesel is a clean burning, eco-friendly natural fuel obtained from tree born oil by a chemical transformation process called “Transesterification” carried out in a chemical processing plant. Transesterification is an age old chemical process and is a time tested method of transforming vegetable oils or fats into bio-diesel. Bio-fuel – The term bio-fuel applies to any solid, liquid, or gaseous fuel produced from organic (once-living) matter.

Q. What is the composition of Bio diesel?

Ans. Bio-diesel is a bio-fuel produced from various feedstock’s’ including vegetable oils (such as oilseed, rapeseed and Soya bean), animal fats or algae. Bio-diesel can be blended with diesel for use in diesel engine vehicles.

Bio-diesel, derived from the oils and fats of plants like sunflower, rape seeds, Canola or Jatropha (Bhagveranda) can be used as a substitute or an additive to diesel.

Q. What are the benefits of Bio diesel?

Ans.

• As an alternative fuel bio-diesel can provide power similar to conventional diesel fuel and thus can be used in diesel engines.
• Bio-diesel is a renewable liquid fuel that can be produced locally thus helping reduce the country’s dependence on imported crude petroleum diesel.
• It has high-lubricity, is a clean-burning fuel and can be a fuel component for use in existing, unmodified diesel engines. This means that no retrofits are necessary when using bio-diesel fuel in any diesel powered combustion engine.
• Bio-diesel acts like petroleum diesel, but produces less air pollution, comes from renewable sources, is biodegradable and is safer for the environment.
• Producing bio-diesel fuels can help create local economic revitalization and local environmental benefits. Many groups interested in promoting the use of bio-diesel already exist at the local, state and national level.
• A vehicle tends to pollute the environment and emits harmful gasses, if injected with HSD whereas if the engine is using bio-diesel it emits no harmful gasses rather keeps the environment pollution free.
• Bio-diesel provides significantly reduced emissions of carbon monoxide, particulate matter, unburned hydrocarbons, and sulfates compared to petroleum diesel fuel. Additionally, bio- diesel reduces emissions of carcinogenic compounds by as much as 85% compared with petro- diesel. When blended with petroleum diesel fuel, these emissions reductions are generally directly proportional to the amount of bio-diesel in the blend.
• Bio-diesel may not require an engine modification. Bio-diesel can be blended with diesel so as to improve the efficiency of the engine without any hassles. Bio-diesel is cheap.
• Bio-diesel can be pumped, stored and burned just like petroleum diesel fuel, and can be used pure, or in blends with petroleum diesel fuel in any proportion.

Q. What is Cetane number and what about Cetane number of bio diesel?

Ans. Cetane number is used to measure the quality of the fuel’s ignition. Any Vehicle using Bio-diesel has very low idle starting noise. It is noted that bio-diesel has a Cetane number of over 100.

Q. What do you understand by flash point and what is significant about Bio diesel in it?

Ans. The possibility of having an accidental ignition is related to the temperature at which the fuel will create enough vapors to ignite, known as the flash point temperature. The lower the flash point of a fuel is, the lower the temperature at which the fuel can form a combustible mixture. Bio-diesel has a flash point of over 26600F, meaning it cannot form a combustible mixture until it is heated well above the boiling point of water.

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