Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 2.3
List of edible oils suitable for biofuel production. (After Vijayalakshmi et al.
2007
)
Edible oil for biofuel
Property and uses
Corn oil
Abundance of crop
Coconut oil
Favorable for locations harvesting coconut
Castor oil
Lower cost than other oils. But has viscosity issues
Hemp oil
Has a high flash point but low emissions
Mustard oil
Satisfactory for biofuel
Palm oil
Very promising for a biofuel
Peanut oil
Been used in the very first demonstration for diesel engine in 1900
Radish oil
Crop contains 48 % oil, making it very desirable for a fuel
Safflower oil
Relatively new discovered
Soybean oil
Not very economical for use as biofuels
i.
Artichoke
Its seed is used to extract edible oil. The oil composition constitutes of 3 %
stearic, 12 % palmitic, 25 % oleic and 60 % linoleic acids. Presently continuous
experiments and analysis of the crop are in full swing and deduce vast poten-
tial for producing biodiesel (Vijayalakshmi et al.
2007
).
ii.
Canola Oil
Canola seeds are rich in oil content (40 %). During the last few years, canola
oil has started coming under the lime light of bio-fuels. In Australia a small
group of farmers have begun producing bio-diesel from canola oil. Not much
is known about its commercial success. Other countries too have started pro-
ducing it (Vijayalakshmi et al.
2007
).
iii.
Castor Oil
Castor oil is one of the few vegetable oils that bears the 100 % viscosity as
that of diesel fuel. It is one characteristic that has dismantled the environ-
mentalists parallel to attracting their attention with its other few noteworthy
characteristics.
iv.
Coconut Oil
Least viscous oil and thus appears to be a good candidate for biodiesel. As
opposed to castor oil, coconut oil has the largest oil content, of about 70 %
(Vijayalakshmi et al.
2007
).
v.
Corn Oil
Corn has been over many decades under constant experimentation as a feed-
stock for biodiesel. But it was never favored, because primitive extraction
methods did not favor production of wide quantity of oil suitable for process-
ing of bio-diesel (Vijayalakshmi et al.
2007
).
vi.
Cottonseed Oil
So far USA is in function of producing bio-diesel from cotton seed but the
production volumes are quite low (Vijayalakshmi et al.
2007
).
