scholarly journals An Overview of Recent Research in the Conversion of Glycerol into Biofuels, Fuel Additives and other Bio-Based Chemicals

Catalysts ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Usman Nda-Umar ◽  
Irmawati Ramli ◽  
Yun Taufiq-Yap ◽  
Ernee Muhamad

The depletion of fossil fuels has heightened research and utilization of renewable energy such as biodiesel. However, this has thrown up another challenge of significant increase in its byproduct, glycerol. In view of the characteristics and potentials of glycerol, efforts are on the increase to convert it to higher-value products, which will in turn improve the overall economics of biodiesel production. These high-value products include biofuels, oxygenated fuel additives, polymer precursors and other industrial bio-based chemicals. This review gives up-to-date research findings in the conversion of glycerol to the above high-value products, with a special focus on the performance of the catalysts used and their challenges. The specific products reviewed in this paper include hydrogen, ethanol, methanol, acetin, glycerol ethers, solketal, acetal, acrolein, glycerol carbonate, 1,3-propanediol, polyglycerol and olefins.

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 1199-1207
Author(s):  
Amruta P. Kanakdande ◽  
Chandrahasya N. Khobragade ◽  
Rajaram S. Mane

The continuous rising demands and fluctuations in the prices of fossil fuels warrant searching for an alternative renewable energy source to manage the energy needs.


Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 2364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Estevez ◽  
Aguado-Deblas ◽  
Luna ◽  
Bautista

Biodiesel production has considerably increased in recent decades, generating a surplus of crude glycerol, which is the main drawback for the economy of the process. To overcome this, many scientists have directed their efforts to transform glycerol, which has great potential as a platform molecule, into value-added products. A promising option is the preparation of oxygenate additives for fuel, in particular those obtained by the etherification reaction of glycerol with alcohols or olefins, mainly using heterogeneous catalysis. This review collects up-to-date research findings in the etherification of glycerol, either with isobutene (IB) or tert-Butyl alcohol (TBA), highlighting the best catalytic performances reported. Furthermore, the experimental sets employed for these reactions have been included in the present manuscript. Likewise, the characteristics of the glycerol ethers–(bio)fuel blends as well as their performances (e.g., quality of emissions, technical advantages or disadvantages, etc.) have been also compiled and discussed.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-22
Author(s):  
Dustin Hogan ◽  
Anoop Desai ◽  
Valentin Soloiu

An increased emphasis on renewable energy in recent years stems from diminishing supplies of fossil fuels. Add to that an ever-increasing global demand for energy and the conditions for a sustained push towards alternative, renewable forms of energy are clearly present. Biodiesel can be regarded as one such source of alternate energy. It is a renewable diesel fuel substitute that can be manufactured from a variety of naturally occurring oils and fats, primarily through the process of trans-esterification. Peanuts constitute one of the main sources of biodiesel. From the national perspective, Georgia is leading state in the country for producing peanuts.  It accounts for approximately 45 percent of the crop's national acreage and production. Last year Georgia farmers harvested 755,000 acres of peanuts, for a yield of 2.2 billion pounds (EPA, 2010). Southern Georgia is the most productive region due to its coastal plain region, which runs from Columbus through Macon to Augusta. However, for mainstream adoption of biodiesel to be successful, the economic case for production needs to be examined carefully. This paper analyzes and presents the economic feasibility of biodiesel production, with a focus on southeast Georgia.


2020 ◽  
pp. 149-159
Author(s):  
Jatinder Kataria ◽  
Saroj Kumar Mohapatra ◽  
Amit Pal

The limited fossil reserves, spiraling price and environmental impact due to usage of fossil fuels leads the world wide researchers’ interest in using alternative renewable and environment safe fuels that can meet the energy demand. Biodiesel is an emerging renewable alternative fuel to conventional diesel which can be produced from both edible and non-edible oils, animal fats, algae etc. The society is in dire need of using renewable fuels as an immediate control measure to mitigate the pollution level. In this work an attempt is made to review the requisite and access the capability of the biodiesel in improving the environmental degradation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 119 (820) ◽  
pp. 317-322
Author(s):  
Michael T. Klare

By transforming patterns of travel and work around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating the transition to renewable energy and the decline of fossil fuels. Lockdowns brought car commuting and plane travel to a near halt, and the mass experiment in which white-collar employees have been working from home may permanently reduce energy consumption for business travel. Renewable energy and electric vehicles were already gaining market share before the pandemic. Under pressure from investors, major energy companies have started writing off fossil fuel reserves as stranded assets that are no longer worth the cost of extracting. These shifts may indicate that “peak oil demand” has arrived earlier than expected.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Made Dirgantara ◽  
Karelius Karelius ◽  
Marselin Devi Ariyanti, Sry Ayu K. Tamba

Abstrak – Biomassa merupakan salah satu energi terbarukan yang sangat mudah ditemui, ramah lingkungan dan cukup ekonomis. Keberadaan biomassa dapat dimaanfaatkan sebagai pengganti bahan bakar fosil, baik itu minyak bumi, gas alam maupun batu bara. Analisi diperlukan sebagai dasar biomassa sebagai energi seperti proksimat dan kalor. Analisis terpenting untuk menilai biomassa sebagai bahan bakar adalah nilai kalori atau higher heating value (HHV). HHV secara eksperimen diukur menggunakan bomb calorimeter, namun pengukuran ini kurang efektif, karena memerlukan waktu serta biaya yang tinggi. Penelitian mengenai prediksi HHV berdasarkan analisis proksimat telah dilakukan sehingga dapat mempermudah dan menghemat biaya yang diperlukan peneliti. Dalam makalah ini dibahas evaluasi persamaan untuk memprediksi HHV berdasarkan analisis proksimat pada biomassa berdasarkan data dari penelitian sebelumnya. Prediksi nilai HHV menggunakan lima persamaan yang dievaluasi dengan 25 data proksimat biomassa dari penelitian sebelumnya, kemudian dibandingkan berdasarkan nilai error untuk mendapatkan prediksi terbaik. Hasil analisis menunjukan, persamaan A terbaik di 7 biomassa, B di 6 biomassa, C di 6 biomassa, D di 5 biomassa dan E di 1 biomassa.Kata kunci: bahan bakar, biomassa, higher heating value, nilai error, proksimat  Abstract – Biomass is a renewable energy that is very easy to find, environmentally friendly, and quite economical. The existence of biomass can be used as a substitute for fossil fuels, both oil, natural gas, and coal. Analyzes are needed as a basis for biomass as energy such as proximate and heat. The most critical analysis to assess biomass as fuel is the calorific value or higher heating value (HHV). HHV is experimentally measured using a bomb calorimeter, but this measurement is less effective because it requires time and high costs. Research on the prediction of HHV based on proximate analysis has been carried out so that it can simplify and save costs needed by researchers. In this paper, the evaluation of equations is discussed to predict HHV based on proximate analysis on biomass-based on data from previous studies. HHV prediction values using five equations were evaluated with 25 proximate biomass data from previous studies, then compared based on error value to get the best predictions. The analysis shows that Equation A predicts best in 7 biomass, B in 6 biomass, C in 6 biomass, D in 5 biomass, and E in 1 biomass. Key words: fuel, biomass, higher heating value, error value, proximate 


Catalysts ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 812
Author(s):  
Hoang Chinh Nguyen ◽  
My-Linh Nguyen ◽  
Chia-Hung Su ◽  
Hwai Chyuan Ong ◽  
Horng-Yi Juan ◽  
...  

Biodiesel is a promising alternative to fossil fuels and mainly produced from oils/fat through the (trans)esterification process. To enhance the reaction efficiency and simplify the production process, various catalysts have been introduced for biodiesel synthesis. Recently, the use of bio-derived catalysts has attracted more interest due to their high catalytic activity and ecofriendly properties. These catalysts include alkali catalysts, acid catalysts, and enzymes (biocatalysts), which are (bio)synthesized from various natural sources. This review summarizes the latest findings on these bio-derived catalysts, as well as their source and catalytic activity. The advantages and disadvantages of these catalysts are also discussed. These bio-based catalysts show a promising future and can be further used as a renewable catalyst for sustainable biodiesel production.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
ShuoYan Chou ◽  
Truong ThiThuy Duong ◽  
Nguyen Xuan Thao

Energy plays a central part in economic development, yet alongside fossil fuels bring vast environmental impact. In recent years, renewable energy has gradually become a viable source for clean energy to alleviate and decouple with a negative connotation. Different types of renewable energy are not without trade-offs beyond costs and performance. Multiple-criteria decision-making (MCDM) has become one of the most prominent tools in making decisions with multiple conflicting criteria existing in many complex real-world problems. Information obtained for decision making may be ambiguous or uncertain. Neutrosophic is an extension of fuzzy set types with three membership functions: truth membership function, falsity membership function and indeterminacy membership function. It is a useful tool when dealing with uncertainty issues. Entropy measures the uncertainty of information under neutrosophic circumstances which can be used to identify the weights of criteria in MCDM model. Meanwhile, the dissimilarity measure is useful in dealing with the ranking of alternatives in term of distance. This article proposes to build a new entropy and dissimilarity measure as well as to construct a novel MCDM model based on them to improve the inclusiveness of the perspectives for decision making. In this paper, we also give out a case study of using this model through the process of a renewable energy selection scenario in Taiwan performed and assessed.


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