Plants used as a biofuel production

Last edited and updated on: January 20, 2020 by Sagar Aryal

Biofuel

• Biofuel are the fuel that produces by using agricultural crops and other biomass material within a short period of time.
• Common commercial used biofuel are bioethanol, biodiesel, and bio methanol.
• Bioethanol made from sugarcane, sugar beet, and algae.
• Biodiesel is made from vegetable oil, animal fats and algal lipid and from nonedible crops.
• Bio methanol made from organic waste agricultural waste.

Types of Biofuel

1. Biogas
2. Bioethanol
3. Bioethanol
4. Biofuel

Image Source: European Biofuel Portal

Classification of Biofuel

1. First Generation Biofuel

• Also called conventional biofuel
• Made from sugar, starch and vegetable oil animal fats
• Bio-alcohol
• biodiesel
• biogas

2. Second Generation Biofuel (Also called Advance Biofuel made from nonedible

• Straw
• Grass
• Jatropha plants
• Pongamia plants
• Waste vegetable

3. Third Generation Biofuel

• Made from Algae and microbes
• Algae Species
• Alaria esculenta
• Palmaria palmata

Raw Material

• Sugarcane
• Sugar beet
• Corn
• cassava
• Canola oil
• Sunflower

Corn as Biofuel

Composition

• Starch – 61%
• Corn oil- 3.8%
• Protein- 8.0%A
• Fiber-11.2%

Sugarcane as Biofuel

1. Milling of sugarcane for separation of juice and bagasse
2. Fermentation of Sugarcane into Alcohol
3. Distillation and separation of Alcohol 95%
4. Dehydration to remove water content

Rice as biofuel

Composition

• Starch (70-72%)
• Hull (20%)
• Rice bran (7%)
• Embryo (2-3%)
• Rice bran contain oil (15- 23%)

Facts about rice as biofuel

• The straw of rice consist of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin
• Cellulose embedded in lignin matrix thus pre-treatment to convert cellulose to glucose by popping method
• Similar to water impregnated steam explosion method,
• sudden explosion with chemical effect from hydrolysis in high temperature
• Microthermal explosion with help of so3 gas
• Dilution with alkaline to remove lignin
• Filtration to remove alkaline solution
• Addition of water to form cellulosic mash
• Enzyme hydrolyses
• Fermentation to ethanol
• Biofuel

Jatropha as Biofuel

• Jatropha flowering plant belong to family Euphorbiaceae
• More than 170 species but jatropha curcas important in case of biofuel (diesel production)
• Discover in central America and Mexico
• Now a different country like China, Brazil, India, Philippines, Australia
• And also Pakistan producing fuel using Jatropha curcas plant.

Facts About Jatropha curcas

• Jatropha curcas able to survive without watering 5-6 month
• Able to survive at -4 to 45 C
• Perennial give flowering 20-25 years
• flowering 2 times in the year (First flowering in April, May, and Jun
• Second times flowering in September, October and November)
• In February plant drop leave
• Baby plant appear after 9days of sowing seed 2-6-month plant transfer to the field
• Reach to 6-10 feet height
• A single branch of the plant contains 4-6 bunches of seeds

Pongamia pinnata

• Pongamia pinnata (Leguminoceae. Subfamily Papilionoideae)
• First time discover in Bangladesh and India commonly called as pongam or Karanja
• Now found in Australia, Florida, Hawaii, Malaysia Thailand, Philippines
• Drought resistant, heat, limestone, salinity, sand and shade withstand temperature 0-50C annually rainfall of 500-2500mm/annually
• Nitrogen-fixing trees produce seeds containing 30-40% oil
• ornamental and shade tree but now a day’s alternative source of bio-diesel
• 6-8m height, trunk diameter more than 50cm
• The bark is grayish-brown dark green leave

Pongamia

• flowers are pink light purple or white.
• Pods are thickened walled single seed
• Seeds 10-20cm long oblong light brown color.

PONGAMIA SEEDS

• Seeds contain pongam oil, bitter in taste, red-brown color, thick, non-edible,
• Seeds oil has a high content of triglycerides, disagreeable taste, and odor.
• use as tanning leather, soap, illuminating oil.

Advantages

• price
  • The price of regular fuel is increasing due to increasing demand. while biofuel is less expensive due to progress in agriculture.
• sources /raw materials
  • fuels have limited sources while biofuel has large resources like crops (edible & non-edible) manure and other waste materials.
• renewability /biodegradable:
  • it takes very long time for fossil fuel to be produce, biofuel is much more easily renewable.
• security:
  • biofuel can be produce locally, which decrease the nation’s dependence upon foreign energy.
• economic stimulation/employment
  • biofuel manufacture plants can employ hundreds or thousands of workers, creating new jobs in rural area
• carbon cycle
  • when biofuel burn produces very low co2 and absorbed this co2 itself.
• nontoxic/safer
  • biofuel doesn’t contain sulfur and other toxic substance that actually produced by burning of regular fuel.
• Greenhouse effect
• ethanol blended biofuel such as Ethanol85% reduces up to 37.1% of the greenhouse effect

Disadvantages

• Release carbon dioxide result in global warming
• Engine problem
• Food prices
• Food shortages
• Water use
• High cost
• for refining purpose and to and to build a biofuel manufacturing plants to increase biofuel, high initial investment is required.

References

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biofuel
• https://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-efficiency/biofuels/10-biofuel-crops.htm
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4758376/
• https://www.slideshare.net/flanzashebarina/biofuels-28535080

Sources

• 3% – https://www.dieselworldmag.com/diesel-technology/diy-alternative-fuel-how-to-make-your-own-biofuel-in-nine-easy-steps/
• 2% – https://www.coursehero.com/file/17789138/Biofuel/
• 2% – https://lifeunparalleled.blogspot.com/2010/
• 1% – https://www.slideshare.net/sunnyalha/bioethanol-ppt
• 1% – https://www.slideshare.net/steamxpress/pongamia-pinnata
• 1% – https://www.slideshare.net/mjrulzz/biofuels-33429450
• 1% – https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780081027288000073
• 1% – https://thesustainabilitycooperative.net/2013/12/26/the-difference-between-biofuel-bioethanol-biodiesel-and-biogas/
• 1% – https://agsci.oregonstate.edu/sites/agsci.oregonstate.edu/files/bioenergy/generations-of-biofuels-v1.3.pdf
• 1% – http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/chhabra61-1753756-biofuel-alternate-source-energy/
• <1% – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12180781

Plants used as a biofuel production