Biodiesel: Technology & Business Opportunities

– An Insight

S Biswas, N Kaushik & G Srikanth

Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC)
Department of Science & Technology, New Delhi – 110 016
Tel: +91-11 -2686 3816, Fax: 2696 1158, e-mail : biswas@nic.in

The concept of bio fuel dates back to 1885 when Dr. Rudolf Diesel built the first
diesel engine with the full intention of running it on vegetative source. In 1912 he observed,
" … the use of vegetable oils for engine fuels may seem insignificant today. But such oils
may in the course of time become as important as petroleum and the coal tar products of
present time."

In 1970, scientists discovered that the viscosity of vegetable oils could be reduced by
a simple chemical process and that it could perform as diesel fuel in modern engine. Since
then the technical developments have come a long way and the plant oil today has been
highly established as bio fuel, equivalent to diesel.

Recent environmental (e.g. Kyoto Protocol) and economic concerns have prompted
resurgence in the use of biodiesel throughout the world. In 1991, the European Community
proposed a 90% tax reduction for the use of bio fuels, including biodiesel. Today 21
countries worldwide produce biodiesel.

India is one of the largest petroleum consuming and importing countries. India
imports about 70 % of its petroleum demands. The current yearly consumption of diesel oil
in India is approximately 40 million tones constituting about 40% of the total petro-product
consumption.

2.0 Why Biodiesel?

Biodiesel, derived from the oils and fats of plants like sunflower, rape seeds, Canola
or Jatropha Curcas, can be used as a substitute or an additive to diesel. As an alternative
fuel biodiesel can provide power similar to conventional diesel fuel and thus can be used in
diesel engines. Biodiesel is a renewable liquid fuel that can be produced locally thus helping
reduce the country’s dependence on imported crude.

2.1 The advantages of biodiesel are enumerated hereunder :

 Biodiesel is non toxic & environmental friendly as it produces substantially less
carbon monoxide and 100% less sulfur dioxide emissions with no unburnt
hydrocarbons and thus it is ideal fuel for heavily polluted cities. Biodiesel reduces
serious air pollutants such as particulates and air toxicity.
 Due to its less polluting combustion, biodiesel provides a 90% reduction in cancer
risks and neonatal defects.
 Biodiesel is biodegradable and renewable by nature.
 Biodiesel can be used alone or mixed in any ratio with conventional diesel. The
preferred ratio of mixture ranges between 5 and 20%
  Biodiesel extends the life of diesel engines.
 Biodiesel could be cheaper than conventional diesel.
 Biodiesel has good potential for rural employment generation.

3.0 Biodiesel : Common Plant Sources

Under Indian conditions such plants varieties, which are non-edible and which can be
grown abundantly in large-scale on wastelands, can be considered for biodiesel production.
Some of the prominent non-edible oil seed producing plants include jatropha curcas or
ratanjyot, pongamia pinnata or karanj, calophyllum inophyllum or nagchampa, hevea
brasiliensis of rubber seeds, calotropis gigantia or ark, euphorbia tirucalli or sher, boswellia
ovalifololata, neem etc.

3.1 Selection of Species : Jatropha Curcas

Considering all the options available among non-edible Tree Bearing Oil (TBO)
seeds, Jatropha Curcas has been identified as the most suitable seed. Jatropha is a genus
of approximately 175 succulents, shrubs and trees from the family Euphorbiaceae. Plants
from the genus are natives of Africa, North America and the Caribbean. Originating in the
Caribbean, the Jatropha had spread as a valuable hedge plant to Africa, Asia and to India
by Portuguese traders. Jatropha Curcas is a widely occurring variety of TBO. It grows
practically all over India under a variety of agro-climatic conditions. Thus it ensures a
reasonable production of seeds with very little inputs.

3.1.1 Jatropha : The Preferred Option

The advantages of the specie are as follows :

• Jatropha can be grown in arid zones (20 cm rainfall) as well as in higher rainfall
zones and even on land with thin soil cover.
• It is a quick yielding specie even in adverse land situations viz. degraded and barren
lands under forest and non-forest use, dry and drought prone areas, marginal lands,
even on alkaline soils and also as agro-forestry crops. Jatropha can be a good
plantation material for eco-restoration in all types of wasteland.
• Jatropha grows readily from plant cuttings or seeds up to the height of 3 - 5 m.
• Jatropha is not considered good forage material.
• The plant is highly pest and disease resistant.
• Various parts of the plant are of medicinal value, its bark contains tannin, the flowers
attract bees and thus the plant is honey production potential.
• Jatropha removes carbon from the atmosphere, stores it in the woody tissues and
assists in the build up of soil carbon.

2
3.1.2 Jatropha : The Limitations

The jatropha also suffers from certain limiting factors, which need to be kept in mind
while dealing with the specie. These are as follows:

 Jatropha cannot be grown on waterlogged lands and slopes exceeding 30o.

 The ideal climatic conditions for jatropha can be summarized as annual rainfall not
exceeding 600 mm in moderate climatic conditions, 1200 mm in hot climatic zones and
soil pH less than 9. The atmospheric temp. should not fall below 0o C as the plants are
sensitive to ground frost that may occur in winters.

 Jatropha seeds are hard and possess toxicity

 The golden flea beetle (Podagrica spp.) can harm particularly on young plants.

 Jatropha is also host to the fungus "frogeye" (Cercospera spp.), common in tobacco

3.1.1 Jatropha Cultivation : Yield and Productivity

Apart from planting the seeds, jatropha can also be propagated vegetatively from
cuttings. Use of branch cutting for propagation results in rapid growth and the bush can be
expected to bear fruit within one year.

Seeds are best sown during mid-February to mid-March and the seedlings 60-75
cms. tall can be transplanted to the field. The ideal planting pitch has been found to be 2m x
2m thus resulting in 2500 plants per hectare. Wider spacing would give larger yields of fruit
@794 Kgs/ha. Like all perennial plants, jatropha displays vigorous growth in youth that tails
off gradually towards maturity.

In equatorial regions where moisture is not a limiting factor (i.e. continuously wet
tropics or under irrigation), jatropha can bloom and produce fruit throughout the year. To
withstand extreme drought conditions, jatropha plant sheds leaves to conserve moisture,
which results in reduced growth. Although jatropha is adapted to soils with low fertility and
alkalinity, better yields can be obtained on poor quality soils if fertilizers containing small
amounts of nutrients viz. calcium, magnesium and sulfur are used for the first two years.

Jatropha plant bears fruits from 2nd year of its plantation and the economic yield
stabilizes from 4th or 5th year onwards. The plant has an average life with effective yield up
to 50 years. Jatropha gives about 2 Kgs. of seed per plant. In relatively poor soils such as in
Kutch (Gujarat), the yields have been reported to be 1 Kg per plant while in lateritic soils of
Nashik (Maharashtra), the seed yields have been reported as 0.75 - 1.00 Kg per plant. Thus
the economic yield can be considered as 0.75-2.00 Kgs./plant and 4.00-6.00 MT per
hectare per year depending on agro-climactic zone and agricultural practices. One hectare
of plantation on average soil will give 1.6 MT oil. Plantation on poorer soils will give 0.9 MT
of oil per hectare.

3
 The cost of plantation has been estimated as Rs.20,000/- per hectare, inclusive of
plant material, maintenance for one year, training, overheads etc. It includes elements such
as site preparation, digging of pits, fertilizers, irrigation, deweeding, and plant protection for
one year i.e., the stage when it will start bearing fruits.

4.0 Jatropha to Biodiesel : Process Steps

4.1 Preparation of Seeds

The ripe fruits are plucked from the trees and the seeds are sun dried. They are
decorticated manually or by decorticator. To prepare the seeds for oil extraction, they
should be solar heated for several hours or roasted for 10 minutes. The seeds should not be
overheated. The process breaks down the cells containing the oil and eases the oil flow.
The heat also liquefies the oil, which improves the extraction process.

Oil can be extracted from the seeds by heat, solvents or by pressure. Extraction by
heat is not used commercially for vegetable oils. The oil from Jatropha seeds can be
extracted by three different methods. These are mechanical extraction using a screw press,
solvent extraction and an intermittent extraction technique viz. soxhlet extraction.

4.2 Purification of Oil

The oil extracted as above can be purified by the following means:

4.2.1 Sedimentation

This is the easiest way to get clear oil, but it takes about a week until the sediment is
reduced to 20 - 25 % of the raw oil volume.

4.2.2 Boiling with water

The purification process can be accelerated tremendously by boiling the oil with
about 20 % of water. The boiling should continue until the water has completely evaporated
(no bubbles of water vapour anymore). After a few hours the oil then becomes clear.

4.2.3 Filtration

Filtration of raw oil is a very slow process and has no advantage in respect of
sedimentation. It is not recommended.

4.3 Processing of Oil

The quality of feed vegetable oil particularly FFA content plays an important role in
identifying the suitable technology. The important factors to be considered for a biodiesel
production plant include:

 Processability of variety of vegetable oils without or minimum modifications

 Processability of high free fatty acid (FFA) containing oils/feed-stocks
 Must be able to process raw both expelled and refined oil
4
  Process should be environment friendly with almost zero effluent

Certain difficulties are experienced in IC engines while using straight vegetable oil (SVO) or
chemically unmodified vegetable oils. One major problem is the higher viscosity of
vegetable oils. The triglycerals as present in vegetable oil are mostly associated with their
high viscosities, low volatilities and polyunsaturated character. Thus property modifications
by trans-esterification are required to impart properties similar to petroleum diesel to the
vegetable oil.

The selection of appropriate technology for production of biodiesel calls for careful
selection of processing steps, catalyst and downstream process integration.

Various methods for processing of oil are as follows:

• Pyrolysis
• Micro-emulsification
• Trans-esterification

4.3.1 Pyrolysis

Pyrolysis refers to a chemical change caused by application of thermal energy in

absence of air or nitrogen. The liquid fractions of the thermally decomposed vegetable oil
are likely to approach diesel fuels. The pyrolyzate has lower viscosity, flash & pour points
than diesel fuel but equivalent calorific values. The cetane number of the pyrolyzate is
lower. The pyrolysed vegetable oils contain acceptable amounts of sulphur, water and
sediment with acceptable copper corrosion values but unacceptable ash, carbon residue
and pour point.

4.3.2 Micro-emulsification

The formation of micro-emulsions (co-solvency) is a potential solution for reducing

the viscosity of vegetable oil. Micro-emulsions are defined as transparent,
thermodynamically stable colloidal dispersions. The droplet dia. in micro-emulsions ranges
from 100 to 1000 Å. A micro-emulsion can be made of vegetable oils with an ester and
dispersant (co-solvent), or of vegetable oils, an alcohol and a surfactant and a cetane
improver, with or without diesel fuels. Water (from aqueous ethanol) may also be present in
order to use lower-proof ethanol, thus increasing water tolerance of the micro-emulsions.

4.3.3 Transesterification

The process of converting the raw vegetable oil into biodiesel, which is fatty acid alkyl
ester, is termed as transesterification. There are three basic routes to biodiesel production
from biolipids (biological oils and fats) :

 Base catalyzed transesterification of the biolipid carried out under atmospheric

pressure and at temperature ~60-70o C
• Direct acid catalyzed transesterification of the biolipid
• Conversion of the biolipid to its fatty acids and then to biodiesel
5
 The processing steps for the most commonly used method viz. base catalyzed
transesterification of the biolipid would be as follows :

1. Exact quantity of potassium hydroxide required as determined by titration is

thoroughly mixed in methanol till it dissolves completely to result in potassium
methoxide.
2. Jatropha oil is heated, if required (during winter), and mixed in the potassium
methoxide while with agitator running.
3. It is then allowed to settle and glycerine is removed from bottom.
4. Biodiesel fraction is then washed and dried.
5. It is then checked for quality.

Transesterification, also called alcoholysis, is the displacement of alcohol from an

ester by another alcohol in a process similar to hydrolysis. Methanol is most commonly used
for the purpose since it is the cheapest alcohol available. Ethanol and higher alcohols such
as isopropanol, butanol etc. can also be used for the esterification. Using higher molecular
weight alcohols improves the cold flow properties of biodiesel but reduces the efficiency of
transesterification process. The reaction is as follows :

Methods commonly used for producing biodiesel are batch and continuous
processes. In general, smaller capacity plants and variable feedstock quality warrant use of
batch systems. Continuous systems generally lead the operation on a 24x7 basis, requiring
larger capacities to justify larger staffing needs and also requiring uniform feedstock quality.

The transesterification works well when the input oil is of high quality. However, quite
often low quality oils are used as raw materials for bio-diesel preparation. In cases where
FFA content of the oil is above 1%, difficulties arise due to the formation of soap, which
promotes emulsification during the water washing stage. If the FFA content is above 2%,
the process becomes unworkable. The factors affecting the transesterification process are i)
oil temp. (ii) reaction temp. (iii) ratio of alcohol to oil (iv) catalyst type & conc. (v) intensity of
mixing (vi) purity of reactants

The approx. process constituents are listed hereunder :

Vegetable oil Alcohol Catalyst (Sodium or Glycerine Bio-

Potassium diesel
Hydroxide)
100 gm 12 gm 1 gm 11 gm 95 gm

6
4.3.3.1 Transesterification : Industrial Practice - Lurgi Process

Lurgi’s process of transesterification is used most widely in the world. The process
involves intensive mixing of methanol with the oil in presence of a catalyst, and then
separation of lighter methyl ester phase by gravity from the heavier glycerol. The process
flow chart for production of biodiesel is illustrated in Figure below.

Oil, methanol and sodium methylate catalyst are mixed in the reactor (R-I) and
allowed to separate into two phases. The lighter methyl ester/oil phase is mixed with
additional methanol and catalyst in the reactor (R-II) followed by gravity separation. This
second reactor stage maximizes the biodiesel yield and quality. The lighter phase is washed
with water to remove residual glycerol or methanol dissolved in the ester phase, followed by
vacuum drying to yield biodiesel.
The denser glycerol phase from R-II containing excess methanol and catalyst is
recycled to the front end of R-I. The denser glycerol phase leaving R-I still containing
excess methanol is distilled for its recovery in the Methanol Recovery Column and sent
back to R-I. The wash water from the Water Wash Column is used in the Methanol
Recovery Column. Thus the entire methanol is consumed in the production of methyl ester.
The heavier fraction from the Methanol Recovery Column is processed in the Glycerin
Water Evaporation Column to recover crude glycerin (conc. 80-85%) as a byproduct. This
can be further upgraded to pharmaceutical glycerin by distillation, bleaching, if required, and
vacuum drying.

The key features of Lurgi’s biodiesel process are:

 Technology applicable to multiple feedstocks
 Continuous process at atmospheric pressure and at 60C
 Dual Reactor System operating with a patented Glycerin Cross Flow configuration
for maximized conversion
7
  Recovery & recycling of methanol
 Closed loop water wash recycle to minimize waste water
 Phase separation by gravity process (no centrifuges necessary)
Almost all the biodiesel is produced using the base catalyzed transesterification
process as it is the most economical one requiring only low temperatures & pressures with
98% yield. Other processes under development include biocatalyzed trans-esterification,
pyrolysis of vegetable oil/seeds and transesterification in supercritical methanol.

4.3.3.2 Transesterification : Critical Issues

 Interference of FFA with transesterification deactivates the basic catalyst resulting in

loss of catalyst and biodiesel yield.
 As water content of the oil deactivates catalysts, drying of oil may be required.
 Soaps formed with basic catalyst is difficult to remove.

4.4 Biodiesel: Physical Characteristics

Properties Values
Specific gravity 0.87 to 0.89
Kinematic viscosity@ 40°C 3.7 to 5.8
Cetane number 46 to 70
Higher heating value (Btu/lb) 16,928 - 17,996
Lower heating value (Btu/lb) 15,700 - 16,735
Sulphur wt % 0.00 - 0.0024
Cloud point °C -11 to 16
Pour point °C -15 to 13
Iodine number 60 - 135

4.5 Storage of Biodiesel : Problems Encountered

The efficient storage of biodiesel resources can provide energy security to the
country. Adequate data are not available for long-term storage of biodiesel and blends.
Based on the experience, biodiesel can be stored up to a max. 6 months.

As a mild solvent, biodiesel tends to dissolve sediments normally encountered in old

diesel storage tanks. Brass, teflon, lead, tin, copper, zinc etc. oxidize biodiesel and create
sediments. The existing storage facilities and infrastructure for petrol & diesel can be used
for the biodiesel with minor alterations. For biodiesel storage, shelf life and how it might
break down under extreme conditions assume importance. The following merit attention for
storage of biodiesel :

 Biodiesel has poor oxidation stability. Use of oxidation stability additives is necessary to
address this problem.
 Low temperature can cause biodiesel to gel, but on warming it liquefies quickly. Hence,
insulation/jacketing of storage tanks and pipelines would need to be done at the low
temperature zones.
8
 To avoid oxidation and sedimentation of tanks with biodiesel, storage tanks made of
aluminium, steel etc. are recommended for usage.

5.0 Indian Scenario

There has been greater awareness on biodiesel in India in the recent times and
significant activities have picked up for its production especially with a view to boost the
rural economy. The activities launched in the field of bio-diesel in India and the agencies
involved therein include:

• Development of high quality jatropha through tissue culture by DBT, Aditya, Sheel
Biotech etc.
• Plantation by National Oilseed and Vegetable Oil Development Board (NOVOD),
NAEB, NGOs & private companies
• Pilot plants for biodiesel production by IITs, IIP-Dehradun, R&D Centre/IOCL, PAU-
Ludhiana, IISc, Indian Railways, IICT, CSMCRI.
• Trans-esterification plants with capacities : 300 MT/day & 30 MT/day in AP, 5.00
MT/day in Sivakasi, Oil India planning 24 MT/day capacity plants in various states.
• Trial runs by Indian Railways, Mahindra & Mahindra (Tractors), Haryana
Roadways/IOCL, BEST Buses/HPCL, Daimler Chrysler cars etc.
• Supply of biodiesel by Lubrizol India Pvt. Ltd. & Gujarat Oleochem

A National Mission on biodiesel has been proposed by the Govt. of India comprising
six micro-missions covering the essential aspects of plantation, seed procurement, oil
extraction, transesterification, blending & trade and R&D.

Indian Oil has worked on establishing the production parameters of transesterified

jatropha oil and use of biodiesel in its R&D Centre at Faridabad. They have been using a
laboratory scale plant of 100 Kgs./day capacity for transesterification; designing of larger
capacity plants is underway. Production of bio-diesel in smaller plants of capacity e.g. 5-20
Kgs./day may also be started in villages.

Substantial developmental activities have been carried out in regard to the production
of biodiesel through transesterified non-edible oil and its use by IISc-Bangalore and
Tamilnadu Agriculture University-Coimbatore. Kumaraguru College of Technology in
association with Pan Horti Consultants-Coimbatore has worked on marginally altering the
engine parameters to suit the Indian jatropha seeds and to minimize the cost of
transesterification process.

5.1 Jatropha Plantation : Current Status

450 species of oil yielding plants have been identified in various parts of India.
Jatropha has been selected for focused development in the country due to its less gestation
period compared to 7-8 yrs. of Karanj. While the jatropha seeds are used for oil extraction,
other parts of the plant i.e. leaves, bark etc. can be used for developing organic dyes,
medicines, biogas etc.

India has vast stretches of degraded land, mostly in areas with adverse agro-climatic
conditions, where species of jatropha can be grown easily. Even 30 million hectares of
9
jatropha cultivation for biodiesel can completely replace the current usage of fuels in India.
Use of 11 million hectares of wasteland for jatropha cultivation can lead to generation of
minimum 12 million jobs.

Central Salt & Marine Chemical Research Institute (CSMCRI), Bhavnagar has
successfully cultivated good varieties of Jatropha curcus on marginal land to assess
practically realizable seed yields. GB Pant University has planted jatropha in 140 ha. at its
farm. University scientists have selected new high yielding species of jatropha, which have
yield potential of up to 10 tons/ha. Efforts of National Oilseed and Vegetable Oil
Development Board (NOVOD) include development of quality planting material, improved
jatropha seeds having oil contents up to 1.5 times of ordinary seeds etc. NOVOD has
planned jatropha plantation at 1719 hectares in various states.

Biodiesel Technologies, Kolkata is a consortium of tea planters, agricultural scientists

& chemical engineers engaged in the study, research & experience in the cultivation of
jatropha/safed musli/stevia/patchouli/vanila and developed efficient biodiesel processing
reactors indigenously. For the last 3 years, they are working on jatropha cultivation, oil
extraction and design of processing machinery. They have a team of experienced
professionals to guide and help the sector.

Nandan Bioagro and Labland Biotech have tied up with British Oil Company, D1
Oils, to cultivate jatropha. The company will encourage farmers to cultivate the crop under
an arrangement with the company. Godrej Agrovet Ltd. is planning to invest over Rs.5
billion, for jatropha and palm oil cultivation in the states of Gujarat and Mizoram. Emami
Ltd, one of the leading toiletries outfit in the country, is planning to enter into the farming of
jatropha. The company plans a joint venture with a leading European company. For
technical collaboration for extraction of jatropha oil, Emami plans to approach the
companies in US, UK and Austria. The company will start farming of jatropha in Suri in West
Bengal and Balasore in Orissa.

Jatropha plantation has been planned in a total of 4,00,000 hectares of land in the
country with the following objectives :

• Increasing the yield of Jatropha plants by using good planting material.

• Selection of varieties/strains, which have more seed content.
• Development of processing techniques, which results in maximum oil recovery from
seeds.

5.2 Oil Seed Crushing and Oil Extraction : Current Status

Presently the edible oil is extracted through traditional ghani. The recovery of oil in
the ghani is lesser and of inferior quality. The capacity is also much less as compared to the
improved expellers. Oil extraction can be more effectively carried out by the following
methods:

Method 1: Prepressing of seeds lightly can precede oil milling. This results in higher
capacity; lower power consumption, lower wear & tear and maintenance. The oil recovery is
lower in this case.
10
 Method 2: Here either in the same screw press – two-stage pressing is carried out or
prepressed cake from first stage screw press in sent for second pressing to other screw
press. Any kind of oil-bearing seed can be processed in oil mill, preparatory equipments are
recommended prior to expelling. Pressed cake can be sold after recovering the max. oil.
Hence, double pressing system is recommended.

Depending on process sophistication, the cost of oil extraction will be 19-90 paise per
litre.

GB Pant University has developed a decorticator for jatropha seeds. Under an MNES
sponsored project, IIT-Delhi has developed a power-operated decorticator for jatropha
seeds with a capacity of 150 Kg. seeds/hr. It is operated by 2.5 HP single-phase motor.
Such machines are highly useful at rural level. IIT-Delhi has also extracted Karanja oil from
the kernels by mechanical process at lab scale. NOVOD has established a technology for
individual farmers for decorticating jatropha seeds with a capacity of 20 Kg/hr. It is available
at Rs.6,500/- per unit.

Under the National Mission on Liquid Biofuels, NOVOD has taken initiative to support
development of improved oil expellers. To facilitate extraction of oil from seeds, as an initial
step, one oil expeller machine established at NSIC in Rajkot has been tested and found
working satisfactorily.

At the Biotech Park-Lucknow, a 1.0-ton/day oil expeller has been installed for
extraction of oil from jatropha seeds. Around 20 jatropha extraction units were opened at in
the Erode district of Tamil Nadu. Some of the agencies manufacturing oil extraction
equipment are, M/s MA Deliverance Agro-Industries, Mazabuka and M/s. Sardar
Engineering Company, Kanpur (45 Kgs./hr. seed crushing capacity). Using Sundhara Press
mechanical oil expellers, up to 75 - 80% of the oil can be extracted. With the Yenga hand
press, 60 - 65% of oil can be extracted (5 kg of seeds give about 1 litre of oil). Gagan
International, Ludhiana is one of the leading manufacturers and exporters of biodiesel
plants and is the first to indigenously fabricate the biodiesel plants. They have been
manufacturing biodiesel producing plants ranging from 400 lts./day to 15000 lts./day. The
cost of equipment would be around Rs.6.50 lakhs for 1000 lts./day plant and Rs.50 lakhs
for 15000 lts./day.

The disadvantages of expellers are listed as follows :

 The press must operate continuously for at least eight hours; intermittent
operation is unsatisfactory.
 Oil from an expeller contains more impurities than oil from a batch press and must
be filtered to obtain clean oil.
 Maintenance costs are high and it requires skilled mechanics.

5.3 Transesterification Process : Current Status

A bench scale process was developed for catalyst free transesterification of jatropha
seed oil, other vegetable oils, acid oil etc. at IICT, Hyderabad. The crude product is further
processed to obtain biodiesel meeting ASTM specifications. IICT is working on the
development of a green process for biodiesel using solid catalysts and enzymes.
11
 The Department of Bio-energy, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) has
studied different variations of methanol, sodium hydroxide, reaction time and reaction
temperature to optimize the process conditions for maximum biodiesel yield for alkali-
catalyzed transesterification of jatropha oil. An average biodiesel yield of 96% was obtained
in an up-scaled biodiesel plant of TNAU. Their pilot plant of 250-litres/day capacity consists
of a biodiesel reactor with heating & agitating devices, catalyst mixing tank, glycerol settling
tanks and biodiesel washing tank. The properties of the biodiesel (free fatty acid, acid value)
were found to be within specified limits.

Transesterification process has been optimized and patented by R&D Centre of

IOCL. Technology know-how has been transferred to M/s. Venus Ethoxyethers, Goa for
commercialization.

CSMCRI has developed a simplified process for biodiesel production from the oil
complying with Euro-3 specifications for free fatty acid methyl ester. An important objective
has been to identify outlets for by-products to enhance the overall value of the seed and
thereby make jatropha cultivation more remunerative. While biodiesel conforming to Euro-3
specs. is produced in Europe from rapeseed oil, this is the first time that such biodiesel has
been made from jatropha oil. The biodiesel developed by CSMCRI has been evaluated at
Daimler Chrysler AG and found to be matching all specifications. The cetane number has
been established to be 58.5.
Delhi College of Engineering has established small capacities of 5, 10, 50 & 100
liters batch reactors. Studies on biodiesel from waste cooking oils and greases being carried
under a project sponsored by PCRA.

5.4 Biodiesel Usage : Field Trials

Diesel forms nearly 40% of the energy consumed in the form of fossil fuels and its
demand is estimated at 40 million tons. Therefore blending becomes an important national
issue, which apart from giving the economic dividends, lowers the country's oil bill. Private
sector companies have been focusing their R&D work on performance of engine with
biodiesel and its pollution characteristics. Some of the major companies taking lead in field
trials of biodiesel include Tata Motors Ltd., Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., Wartsila India ltd. etc.
At Kumaraguru College of Technology, auto rickshaw was successfully run on pure
biodiesel prepared from jatropha oil.

Trains have successfully been run on 5-10% blends of biodiesel in association with
IOCL. HPCL is carrying out field trials in association with BEST, Mumbai. Daimler Chrysler
India completed first phase of the field trials on two C-Class Mercedes-Benz cars powered
by pure biodiesel and clocked over 5900 Km under hot & humid conditions. CSIR plans to
test vehicles on biodiesel developed from jatropha in association with Tata Motors and
IOCL. NOVOD has initiated test run by blending 10% of biodiesel in collaboration with IIT-
Delhi in Tata Sumo & Swaraj Mazda vehicles. Haryana State Transport buses have been
run by using biodiesel.

5.5 Commercial Production of Biodiesel : Indian Efforts

In India, approximate 85% of the operating cost of biodiesel plant is the cost to
acquire feedstock. Securing own feedstock to insure supply at a fair price and sourcing it
12
locally to avoid long haulage for delivery of seeds to biodiesel plant are critical factors in
controlling profitability.

The capital cost both in India and internationally are ~Rs.15,000 - 20,000/- per MT of
biodiesel produced. At 10000 MTPA, the capital cost of oil extraction and transesterification
plant would be Rs.20,000/MT capacity. A plant size of 10,000 MTPA can be considered
optimal assuming cost of oil extraction at Rs.2360/MT and cost of transesterification at
Rs.6670/MT with by-products produced @ 2.23 MT seed cake/MT of biodiesel and 95Kgs.
of glycerol per MT of biodiesel. Fixed costs towards manpower, overheads & maintenance
is 6% of capital cost, depreciation is 6.67% of capital cost. The return on investment (ROI) is
15% pretax on capital cost.

The following small units are already in commercial production :

1. Aatmiya Biofuels Pvt. Ltd., Por-Vadodara, Gujarat had set-up biodiesel plant with a
commercial production capacity of 1000 liters/day from jatropha.

2. Gujarat Oelo Chem Ltd., Panoli based firm started producing biodiesel from vegetable
based feedstock in March 2005.

BP, formerly British Petroleum, would be funding a project estimated at US $9.4

million to TERI in AP to demonstrate feasibility of production of biodiesel from jatropha. The
project is expected to take 10 years and involve cultivation of jatropha in around 8000 ha. of
wasteland. The agricultural land for the project has been identified. TERI would also install
the necessary equipment for seed crushing, oil extraction and processing to produce 9
million litres of biodiesel per annum. A full environmental and social assessment of all
elements of the supply chain and life cycle analysis of green house gas emissions would
also be completed as part of the project.

The commercial pilot plant established by Biodiesel Technologies, Kolkata

produces 450 lts/day of biodiesel. Diamond Energy Resources Pvt. Ltd. has been
working on jatropha plantation and further development since last fifteen years. The
company targets to set up three transesterification plants, each of 100 TPD capacity. They
are in touch with Lurgi, Germany and two other companies from USA for technology support
for setting up the plant in West Bengal. The company has taken up large-scale cultivation of
jatropha in four districts of South Bengal – West Midnapore, Bankura, Birbhum and Purulia
covering over 10,000 ha of arid lands. The Southern Online Biotechnologies Ltd., is
setting up 30 TPD or 90,000 TPA biodiesel plant estimated at Rs.150 million at Choutuppal
in AP with technology support from Lurgi. It would require seeds of 100 TPD or 32,000 TPA.
As the current availability of seeds in the state is around 4,000 tons, it plans to use other
raw materials like acid oils, distilled fatty acids, animal fatty acids and non-edible vegetable
oils like neem, rice bran etc.

Kochi Refineries Ltd. is setting up a pilot plant of 100 liters/day with a US based
Company, Team Sustain Ltd., to extract biodiesel from rubber seed oil. Shirke
Biohealthcare Pvt. Ltd., Pune is setting up a refinery with a capacity to process 5,000 liters
biodiesel per day from jatropha oil. The refinery will also produce 1 MW power with the oil
cake, apart from natural gas, which will be used to run the power plant. Jain Irrigation
System Ltd. plans to set up a large-scale commercial biodiesel plant in Chattisgarh by
13
2008 with a capacity of 150,000 TPD estimated at Rs.480 million. R&D work given
satisfactory results on 3 TPD biodiesel plant at Jalgaon, which was built at a cost of Rs.5
million.

Nova Bio Fuels Pvt. Ltd. plans to set up 30 TPD biodiesel plant in Panipat by 2006
with an investment of Rs.200 million. The plant would also market its byproduct, glycerine,
to pharma companies. Naturol Bioenergy Ltd. is setting up 300 TPD integrated 100%
EOU biodiesel plant in Kakinada, AP at an estimated cost of Rs.1.4 billion. KTK German
Bio Energies India is setting up a commercial plant at Ganapathipalayam village with an
investment of Rs.9 million to commence production by early 2006. Mint Biofuels, Pune
scaled up their plant capacity from 100 L/day to 400 L/day to produce biodiesel from Karanj
seeds in early 2006. They also plans to set-up biodiesel plants ranging from 5000-100000
TPD at Chiplun, Pune at an investment of Rs.300 million within 4 years. Sagar Jatropha
Oil Extractions Pvt. Ltd, Vijayawada is setting up a biodiesel plant at an investment of
Rs.100 million. The company has also experienced success with contract farming of the
jatropha plant in the state.

6.0 Biodiesel : International Experiences

Several countries in the world have active biodiesel programmes. They also have
provided legislative support and have drawn up national polices on biodiesel development.
France is the world's largest producer of biodiesel; its conventional diesel contains between
2-5% biodiesel and that will soon apply to the whole of Europe. Soya based biodiesel is
being produced in USA. Rape seed based biodiesel is in Germany. Germany has more than
1,500 biodiesel filling stations. Sunflower based biodiesel has made good success in France
& UK.

The full potential of jatropha is far from being realized. The Agricultural Research
Trust, Zimbabwe (ART) has developed non-toxic varieties of jatropha curcas, which would
make the seed cake following oil extraction suitable as animal feed without its detoxification.
The cultivation and management of jatropha is poorly documented in South Africa and there
is little field experience available. Currently, growers are unable to achieve the optimum
economic benefits from the plant. The markets for the different products have not been
properly explored or quantified, nor have the costs or returns (both tangible and intangible)
to supply raw materials or products to these markets. Consequently, the actual or potential
growers including those in the subsistence sector do not have an adequate information
base about the potential and economics of this plant to make decisions relating to their
livelihood, not to mention its commercial exploitation.
The severe emission regulations in the world have placed design limitations on
heavy-duty diesel engines. The trend towards cleaner burning fuel is growing worldwide and
this is possible through jatropha based biodiesel.

6.1 Biodiesel Production

Expellers or continuous screw presses are used throughout the world for the
extraction of oil from copra, palm kernels, peanuts, cotton seeds, flaxseed and almost every
other variety of seed, wherever there is a large enough seed supply to justify a continuous
operation. An expeller can exert much greater pressure on the seed cake than a hydraulic
press can. This increased pressure permits the recovery of a larger proportion of the oil,
14
about 3-4% of the oil is left in the cake with an expeller, compared to 4-6% with a hydraulic
press. The expeller is an essential part of almost all modern oil seed extraction plants. It is
used both by itself and as a pre-press before solvent extraction. Expellers vary in size from
machines that process 100 pounds of seed per hour, to machines that process 10 or more
tons of seed per hour. Different types of oil expellers for jatropha seeds are built in many
countries.

Biodiesel technology providers worldwide are Lurgi PSI, Superior Process

Technologies, Biodiesel Industries, Cimbria Sket – Bratney, Crown Iron Works, Renewable
Energy Group etc. The following types of small-scale extractors are being used worldwide:

Screw-cage type Sayari expeller was developed by FAKT Consulting Engineers,

Dietz, Metzler, Zarrate for use in Nepal. It was fabricated using the iron sheets instead of
cast iron to limit the weight of the parts to 40 kgs. The processing capacity is 70 kg of
jatropha seeds/hour, the residual oil content in the press cake is 10-12%. The price is
around US$4000 including the motor and base frame. Oil extractor was provided with hard
screws and cones in a modular assembled form in one shaft. The advantage of this expeller
is preheating of seed is not required.

Komet oil expellers manufactured in Germany, feature a special cold pressing

system with a single conveying screw to squeeze the oils from various seeds. Virtually all oil
bearing seeds, nuts and kernels can be pressed with the standard equipment without
adjusting the screws or oil outlet holes. The vegetable oil produced needs no refining,
bleaching or deodorizing. Generally, any sediment in the oil will settle to the bottom of the
collecting vessel after approximately 24 hours and form a hard cake.

Sectional view of KOMET oil expeller

ENERGEA-Austria developed continuous transesterification reactor technology,

which offers biodiesel production with up to 50% lower investment cost and ~ 100% yield.
Installation can be done in container sized modules with considerably less space
requirement. The reactor operates on multi-feed-stock technology capable for processing
vegetable oils/fats. ENERGEA has signed a contract with Australian Renewable Fuels Pty.

15
Ltd. for supply of biodiesel units with a capacity of 40,000 MT/yr. Construction of the
2,50,000 MT/yr. biodiesel plant and 25,000 MT/yr. glycerine plant for Biofuels Corporation
Plc., Teesside-UK has been completed.

7.0 Byproducts

The marketing of byproducts is necessary for economic viability. The common

byproducts produced while processing the biodiesel are as follows :

• Glycerol
• Oil seed cake

While producing 1 MT of clean jatropha oil, 1.9 MT oil seed cake excluding shell and
0.095 MT glycerol could be obtained as byproducts. The uses of byproducts derived from
biodiesel processing and some developmental efforts are described hereunder :

7.1 Insecticides/Molluscicides

Jatropha seed press cake and jatropha oil have insecticidal and molluscicidal
properties. The active component is a phorbol ester, which gives the toxic property. A
research project of the European Community is investigating the biological mechanisms
involved. The overall aim is to develop a technology for the economic exploitation of
jatropha.
A specialized developed process yields potassium sulphate as a by-product, which
can then be used as an inorganic fertilizer to supplement potash in tea and other crops. The
standard refining process yields about 10% glycerine as a by-product, the market value of
which at present is ~Rs.50,000/- per MT.

7.3 Soap Production

Jatropha seed extracts give a very good foaming white soap with positive effects on
the skin, partly due to the glycerine content of the soap. The soap produced out of jatropha
seed extracts is useful for both human and veterinary purposes. Jatropha oil can substitute
tallow in commercial soap making.

7.4 Engine lubrication

A test at the TMW engine factory in Germany showed the suitability of pure raw
Jatropha oil as a lubrication oil for low revolution engines.

7.5 Jatropha : Medicinal & Other Uses

The latex of jatropha contains an alkaloid known as jatrophine, which has anti-
cancerous properties. It can heal wounds and also has anti-microbial properties. It is also
used as an external application for skin diseases and rheumatism and for sores on domestic
livestock. The tender twigs of the plant are used for cleaning teeth and juice of the leaf is
used as an external application for piles. The roots are used as an antidote for snakebites.
The jatropha oil is a strong purgative and widely used as an antiseptic for cough.

16
 The bark of jatropha plant yields a dark blue dye, which is used for colouring cloth,
fishing nets and lines.

Jatropha oil cake containing 6% of N2, 2.75% of P and 0.94% of K can be used as
organic manure. The detoxified seed cake can be used as a nutritious fodder for the
animals. Jatropha leaves are used as food for the tusser silkworm.

8.0 Conclusion

Production of bio-fuel from plant materials is a major step toward harnessing one of
the world's most-prevalent, yet least-utilized renewable energy resources. A breakthrough
process for converting biomass into biodiesel fuel promises a cheaper way to go green.
Eco-dreamers have long been hoping for a way to mitigating the global warming, but the
slow pace of progress in alternative fuel technologies has prevented that vision from
materializing. Ethanol, the most popular and commercial biofuel, has long been refined out
of plant matter, but it requires the costly, energy-intensive step of distilling every molecule of
water out of the solution. In contrast, the biodiesel process is based on aqueous phase
reactions, which does not to go through the expensive distillation phase. As the process is
exothermic, there is no need for distillation which need a lot of energy. The resulting
biodiesel has almost the same chemical structure as traditional diesel and burns the same
way in diesel engines.

The leading oil companies in the world are currently looking forward to tap the
excellent business opportunity offered by biodiesel. If the developed process is scaled up to
commercial levels by more and more oil companies, it could be a major step towards the
creation of an eco-friendly transportation fuel that is relatively clean on combustion and
provides farmers with substantial income.

The technologies available for biological conversion of cellulosic biomass to biodiesel

enjoy a high potential to succeed in the commercial marketplace. India, with its huge
waste/non-fertile lands, has taken a well noted lead in the area and commercial production
is where the industries have to focus on for self sustainable development. India’s biodiesel
programme has been based on jatropha seeds only but for reduced operating cost a
multiple feedstock-based strategy is needed.

About the Authors

Mr. Soumitra Biswas has post-graduate (Master's) qualifications in Chemical Engineering

and Business Administration from IIT Kharagpur and IIM Calcutta respectively. He is
currently working as Adviser-TIFAC/Department of Science & Technology (Govt. of India),
New Delhi.

Ms. Nirmala Kaushik has post-graduate degree in Chemistry from University of Poona.
She has been working in TIFAC since 1997 and currently designated as Senior Scientific
Officer-I.

Mr. Gudavalli Srikanth is employed as Senior Scientific Officer-I in TIFAC. He has B.E in
Mechanical Engineering followed by Master's in Business Administration.

17