BIODIESEL

GENERAL INFORMATION

What is it?
What is Biodiesel? Biodiesel is a biodegradable & nontoxic form of diesel derived from natural sources, such as vegetable oils, that can be used in diesel motor engines. The chemical name for biodiesel is methyl esters. It is produced from a chemical process, called transesterification, that separates the glycerin from oil. Biodiesel can be used with petroleum diesel to create a biodiesel blend. For example, B20 would mean a blend of 20% biodiesel and 80% petroleum diesel. Some car manufactures have already made a move toward fueling their engines with biodiesel, such as Volkswagon.

A Brief History
The use of biodiesel as a few is a pretty recent development. However, early transesterification activity can be traced back to the mid 1800s. As mentioned above, this was a process used to separate glycerin from oil. The earlier use of this process was to separate the glycerin to make soap from. It was done in about 1853 by two scientists E. Duffy and J. Patrick. An Austrian company tried out the very first plane that ran on biodiesel in 1987. The first industrial-scale plant was established in 1989. August 10th is now called "International Biodiesel Day" to commemerate Rudolph Diesel's model engine that ran on it's own power.

Uses
Biodiesel can be used in diesel engines with virtually no modifications at all. Only pure biodiesel blends (B100) might require cars to undergo some sort of modifications. Biodiesel has a soluable effect on your vehicles fuel system. It can dissolve sediments that have settled on the tank. This may cause clogging at first, but once it's cleared up, it should be running normally.