Use of vegetable oils and animal fats in Diesel engines

Abstract

The use of vegetable oils in diesel engines is nearly as old as the diesel engine itself The use of vegetable oils as motor fuel has become more attractive recently because of their environmental benefits and the fact that it is made from renewable resources. Vegetable oils can be used as fuels for Diesel engines, but their viscosities are much higher than usual diesel fuel and require modifications of the engines. Transesterification has been considered to reduce the high viscosity of vegetable oils. The competitive potential of biodiesel is limited by the price of vegetable oils, which strongly influences the final price of this biofuel. The most common raw materials for biodiesel in the US today are virgin soybean oil, animal fats, and recycled vegetable oil. The fact is that biodiesel fuels produced from vegetable oils and animal fats are very similar.