The Investigation of Biodiesel Production Techniques

Abstract

Today, increasing energy demand and consequent environmental pollution have made the search for alternative fuels compulsory. Biodiesel, which is one of the alternative fuels, can be produced from waste oils, vegetable oils and animal fats, and it is preferred since it is a clean fuel. In the production of biodiesel, the plants such as canola, sunflower, safflower, soy, cotton seed, poppy seed, flax seed and ground nuts; the fruits with high oil ratio such as nuts, olives, almonds, walnuts; animal oil and some algaes are made use of. Taken into account the advantages and disadvantages, it seems biodiesel will be an indispensable fuel for the future with some legal regulations. In this study, the methods of biodiesel production are discussed. The method used in the production of biodiesel has five types: Dilution Method, Micro-Emulsion Method, Pyrolysis Method, Transesterification Method and Super Critical Method. Generally, the most commonly used method is transesterification method since its production cost is low, it decreases the viscosity of vegetable oils best, and the biodiesel obtained through this method has closest features to diesel fuel.