The motivation for this research was to determine the influence of public policies on economic feasibility of producing algal biodiesel in a system that produced all its energy needs internally. To achieve this, a steady-state mass balance/unit operation system was modeled first. Open raceway technology was assumed for the production of algal feedstock, and the residual biomass after oil extrac...

The inconveniences of the conventional method for biodiesel production by alkaline catalysis suggests research towards alternative methods, with the non-catalytic transesterification using an alcohol at supercritical conditions proposed as a promising technique for biodiesel production. The so-called supercritical method (SCM) has powerful advantages over conventional techniques, such as fast r...

Insecurity in the supply of fossil fuels, volatile fuel prices, and major concerns regarding climate change have sparked renewed interest in the production of fuels from renewable resources. Because of this, the use of biodiesel has grown dramatically during the last few years and is expected to increase even further in the future. Biodiesel production through the use of microbial systems has m...

BACKGROUND Corn oil recovery and conversion to biodiesel has been widely adopted at corn ethanol plants recently. The US EPA has projected 2.6 billion liters of biodiesel will be produced from corn oil in 2022. Corn oil biodiesel may qualify for federal renewable identification number (RIN) credits under the Renewable Fuel Standard, as well as for low greenhouse gas (GHG) emission intensity cre...

The present study contributes to identifying obstacles to the development of a local biodiesel agro-industrial system (AGS) in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The research questions are: “How do local social characteristics influence the organizational effectiveness of agents involved in the joint production effort?”; and “How can the institutional arrangement of biodiesel production be desc...

The life cycle impacts were assessed for an integrated microalgal biodiesel production system that facilitates energy- and nutrient- recovery through anaerobic digestion, and utilizes glycerol generated within the facility for additional heterotrophic biodiesel production. Results show that when external fossil energy inputs are lowered through process integration, the energy demand, global war...

To supply biodiesel with the quality levels required by the standards for alternative fuels, the separation and purification units are extremely important in the biodiesel production plants. The correct knowledge and description of the phase equilibria in systems composed by transesterification products is essential for a correct operation and optimization of the purification process. For that ...

SYNTHESIS OF BIODIESEL: A CONTEXTUALIZED EXPERIMENT PROPOSAL FOR THE GENERAL CHEMISTRY LABORATORY. The contextualized understanding of concepts in Chemistry by students from other areas is a challenging task. In this experiment, the synthesis of biodiesel is done by base catalyzed transesterification of refined soy oil with methanol at room temperature and common glassware found in any chemistr...

Various government agencies around the world have proposed vegetable oils and their conversion to biodiesel as a renewable alternative to fossil fuels. Due to its adaptability to marginal soils and environments, the cultivation of Jatropha curcas is frequently mentioned as the best option for producing biodiesel. In the present work the current situation of proven and potential reserves of foss...