What is Biodiesel

Preface

The diesel engine has been the engine of choice for heavy-duty applications in agriculture, construction, industrial, and on-highway transport for more 50 yr. Its early popularity could be attributed to its ability to use the portion of the petroleum crude oil that had previously been considered a waste product from the refining of gasoline. Later, the diesel's durability, high torque capacity, and fuel efficiency ensured its role in the most demanding applications. Although diesels have not been widely used in passenger cars in the United States (1%), they have achieved widespread acceptance in Europe with 33% of the total market (1). In the United States, on-highway diesel engines now consume 30 billion gal- lons of diesel fuel per year, and virtually all of this is in trucks (2). At the present time, only a minute fraction of this fuel is biodiesel. However, as petroleum becomes more expensive to locate and extract, and environmental concerns about diesel exhaust emissions and global warming increase, “biodiesel” is likely to
emerge as one of several potential alternative diesel fuels.

Definition

Very often, a broad, general description is used to define biodiesel in a way that is easy to understand by the general public. However, when these broad descriptions are adopted by an authoritative body as a formal definition, they can include a wide range of experimental fuels that are not biodiesel. The term “biodiesel” has a specific, technical definition that has been agreed to through a painstaking process by members of industry and government which has received full approval by the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM), the premier standard setting organization for fuels and fuel additives. That definition is used for purposes such as alternative fuel designation, EPA registration, or other regulatory purposes. Nonetheless, this specific technical definition can be confusing to the general public. We have, therefore, chosen to adopt two definitions for biodiesel. The “general definition” is a simple description for the general public. The “technical definition” should be adopted for use by customers for bid specification purposes or government entities for regulatory purposes.

General Definition of Biodiesel:
Biodiesel is a domestic, renewable fuel for diesel engines derived from natural oils like soybean oil, and which meets the specifications of ASTM D 6751.

Clarifying language to general definition:
Biodiesel can be used in any concentration with petroleum based diesel fuel in existing diesel engines with little or no modification. Biodiesel is not the same thing as raw vegetable oil. It is produced by a chemical process which removes the glycerin from the oil.

Technical Definition for Biodiesel (ASTM D 6751) and Biodiesel Blend:
Biodiesel, n—a fuel comprised of mono-alkyl esters of long chain fatty acids derived from vegetable oils or animal fats, designated B100, and meeting the requirements of ASTM D 6751.

Biodiesel Blend, n—a blend of biodiesel fuel meeting ASTM D 6751 with petroleum-based diesel fuel, designated BXX, where XX represents the volume percentage of biodiesel fuel in the blend.


Clarifying language to technical definition:
Biodiesel, as defined in D 6751, is registered with the US EPA as a fuel and a fuel additive under Section 211(b) of the Clean Air Act.

Biodiesel is typically produced by a reaction of a vegetable oil or animal fat with an alcohol such as methanol or ethanol in the presence of a catalyst to yield mono-alkyl esters and glycerin, which is removed.


www.biodiesel.org