Bio-diesel
is a diesel fuel substitute produced from renewable sources
such as vegetable oils, animal fats, and recycled cooking
oils. Chemically, it is defined as the mono alkyl esters of
long chain fatty acids derived from renewable lipid sources.
The concept of using vegetable oil as a fuel dates back to
1895 when Dr. Rudolf Diesel developed the first diesel engine
to run on vegetable oil. Diesel demonstrated his engine at
the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900 using peanut oil as
fuel.
The
physical and chemical properties of Bio-diesel are similar
to those of petroleum diesel; moreover, it is environmentally
friendly, non-hazardous and bio-degradable. The applications
of Bio-diesel range from transport vehicles to farming equipment
to industrial machinery.
Bio-diesel
can be used in any type of diesel engine in a blend with petroleum
diesel. No engine modifications are required for blends up
to 10%. Bio-diesel can also be used “neat”, provided
its viscosity is similar to that of petroleum diesel. The
process to extract the viscous glyceroids from Bio-diesel
is known as Transesterification.
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