Biodiesel the use of vegetable oils and their derivatives as alternative diesel fuels.docVIP

�7#$

竮�
帮nnnn
�d�8xn�矦*砵媨n,)矦p矦矦�矦矦矦矦矦矦 Biodiesel: TheUseofVegetableOilsandTheirDerivativesas AlternativeDieselFuels GerhardKnothe*,RobertO.DunnandMarvinO.Bagby OilChemicalResearch,NationalCenterforAgriculturalUtilizationResearch, AgriculturalResearchService,U.S.DepartmentofAgriculture, Peoria,IL61604Vegetableoilsandtheirderivatives(especiallymethylesters),commonlyreferredtoas襜iodiesel,�areprominentcandidatesasalternativedieselfuels.Theyhaveadvancedfrombeingpurelyexperimentalfuelstoinitialstagesofcommercialization.Theyaretechnicallycompetitivewithoroffertechnicaladvantagescomparedtoconventionaldieselfuel.Besidesbeingarenewableanddomesticresource,biodieselreducesmostemissionswhileengineperformanceandfueleconomyarenearlyidenticalcomparedtoconventionalfuels.Severalproblems,however,remain,whichincludeeconomics,combustion,someemissions,lubeoilcontamination,andlow-temperatureproperties.Anoverviewonallaspectsofbiodieselispresented.Theuseofvegetableoilsindieselenginesisnearlyasoldasthedieselengineitself.Theinventorofthedieselengine,RudolfDiesel,reportedlyusedgroundnut(peanut)oilasafuelfordemonstrationpurposesin1900(1).Someotherworkwascarriedoutontheuseofvegetableoilsindieselenginesinthe1930sand1940s.Thefuelandenergycrisesofthelate1970sandearly1980saswellasaccompanyingconcernsaboutthedepletionoftheworldsnon-renewableresourcesprovidedtheincentivestoseekalternativestoconventional,petroleum-basedfuels.Inthiscontext,vegetableoilsasfuelfordieselengineswereremembered.Theynowoccupyaprominentpositioninthedevelopmentofalternativefuels.Hundredsofscientificarticlesandvariousotherreportsfromaroundtheworlddealingwithvegetableoil-basedalternativedieselfuels(biodiesel)haveappearedinprint.Theyhaveadvancedfrombeingpurelyexperimentalfuelstoinitialstagesofcommercialization.Nevertheless,varioustechnicalandeconomicaspectsrequirefurtherimprov