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Green Chemistry

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NAME OF THE

SCHOOL

GREEN CHEMISTRY

Chemistry Investigatory Project

Name:
Class:
Roll No.:
Session:

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Certificate
This is to certify that this
“Chemistry Investigatory Project on
the topic “GREEN CHEMISTRY ” has been
successfully completed by
……………………………… of class XII
under the guidance of
………………………. in particular
fulfillment of the curriculum of
Central Board of Secondary Education
{CBSE} leading to the award of annual
examination of the year 2022-23.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
2
I would like to express my sincere
gratitude to my chemistry mentor
Mr……………….. , for her vital support,
guidance and encouragement - without
which this project would not have come
forth. I would also like to express my
gratitude to our Principal Sir Mr……….
….………… for his support during the
making of this project.

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INDEX

S.No. Contents Pg.No.


Objective
I 5
II Introduction to green chemistry
6
Principals of green chemistry
III 7
IV BIODIESEL:Using renewable resorces 10
ACTIVITY 1: Making biodiesel
V 12
VI ACTIVITY 2: Testing biodiesel
14
ACTIVITY 3: Potential for biofuels
VII 16
Biopetrol
VIII 23
IX Conclution
30
X Bibliography
31

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objective

The Objective of this project is


to study GREEN CHEMISTRY-
Bio diesel and Bio petrol also
study extraction process of Bio
desial.

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INTRODUCTION
TO
GREEN CHEMISTY

On e of the most
important new
aspects of
ch emistry is the
development of
Gre enChemistr
Su y. pported by
Amthe erican
Che mical Society,
the USEPA and
oth er Federal
ag encies,
Che Green
em mistry has
imp erged as an
of a ortant aspect
Grell chemistry.
is t en
ch Chemistry he
anddesign of
red emical products
the processes that
ge uce oreliminate
hazardous
substances.

Green Chemistry
is based on
.
Twelve Principles

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Green chemistry is the branch of chemistry
concerned with developing processes and products
to reduce or eliminate hazardous substances. One of
the goals of green chemistry is to prevent pollution
at its source, as opposed to dealing with pollution
after it has occurred.

Principles of Green Chemistry


1. Prevention

It is better to prevent waste than to treat or clean up waste after it has


been created.

2. Atom Economy

Synthetic methods should be designed to maximize the incorporation of


all materials used in the process into the final product.

3. Less Hazardous Chemical Syntheses

Wherever practicable, synthetic methods should be designed to use


and generate substances that possess little or no toxicity to human
health and the environment.

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4
Designing Safer Chemicals
Chemical products should be designed to effect their desired function
while minimizing their toxicity.

5. Safer Solvents and Auxiliaries

The use of auxiliary substances (e.g., solvents, separation agents, etc.)


should be made unnecessary wherever possible and innocuous when
used.

6.
Design for Energy Efficiency

Energy requirements of chemical processes should be recognized for


their environmental and economic impacts and should be minimized. If
possible, synthetic methods should be conducted at ambient temperature
and pressure.

7.
Use of Renewable Feedstocks

A raw material or feedstock should be renewable rather than depleting


whenever technically and economically practicable.

8.
Reduce Derivatives
Unnecessary derivatization (use of blocking groups, protection/
deprotection,temporary modification of physical/chemical processes)
should be minimized or avoided if possible, because such steps require
additional reagents and can generate waste.

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Catalysis

Catalytic reagents (as selective as possible) are superior to stoichiometric


reagents.

10.
Design for Degradation

Chemical products should be designed so that at the end of their


function they break down into innocuous degradation products and do
not persist in the environment.

11.
Real-time analysis for Pollution Prevention

Analytical methodologies need to be further developed to allow for real-


time, inprocess monitoring and control prior to the formation of
hazardous substances.

12.
Inherently Safer Chemistry for Accident Prevention

Substances and the form of a substance used in a chemical process


should be chosen to minimize the potential for chemical accidents,
including releases,explosions, and fires.

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Biodiesel: using renewable resources

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Introduction
Bio-diesel is an eco-friendly, alternative diesel fuel prepared from
domestic renewable resources i.e. vegetable oils (edible or non- edible
oil) and animal fats. These natural oils and fats are made up mainly of
triglycerides. These triglycerides when rea w striking similarity to
petroleum derived diesel and are called "Bio- diesel". As India is
deficient in edible oils, non-edible oil may be material of choice for
producing bio diesel . For this purpose Jatropha curcas considered as
most potential source for it. Bio diesel is produced by transesterification
of oil obtains from the plant.
Jatropha Curcas has been identified for India as the most suitable Tree
Borne Oilseed (TBO) for production of bio-diesel both in view of the
non-edible oil available from it and its presence throughout the country.
The capacity of Jatropha Curcas to rehabilitate degraded or dry lands,
from which the poor mostly derive their sustenance, by improving
land's water retention capacity, makes it additionally suitable for up-
gradation of land resources. Presently, in some Indian villages, farmers
are extracting oil from Jatropha and after settling and decanting it they
are mixing the filtered oil with diesel fuel. Although, so far the farmers
have not observed any damage to their machinery, yet this remains to be
tested and PCRA is working on it. The fact remains that this oil needs to
be converted to bio-diesel through a chemical reaction - trans-
esterification. This reaction is relatively simple and does not require any
exotic material. IOC (R&D) has been using a laboratory scale plant of
100 kg/day capacity for trans-esterification; designing of larger capacity
plants is in the offing. These large plants are useful for centralized
production of bio-diesel. Production of bio-diesel in smaller plants of
capacity
e.g. 5 to 20 kg/day may also be started at decentralized level.

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Activity 1: Making biodiesel

Biodiesel is a mixture of methyl esters of fatty acids (long chain


carboxylic acids). It has similar properties to the diesel fuel made from
crude oil that is used to fuel many vehicles. It can be made easily from
vegetable cooking oil that contains compounds of fatty acids. Enough fuel
can be produced in this activity to burn in a later activity, although it is not
pure enough to actually be used as fuel in a car or lorry. The synthesis is a
simple chemical reaction that produces biodiesel and propane-1,2,3-triol
(glycerol). Cooking oil is mixed with methanol and potassium hydroxide is
added as a catalyst. The products separate into two layers, with the biodiesel
on the top. The biodiesel is separated and washed, and is then ready for
further experimentation.

What you will need

Eye protection
Access to a top pan balance
One 250 cm3 conical flask
Two 100 cm3 beakers
One 100 cm3 measuring cylinder
Five plastic teat pipettes
Distilled or deionised water
100 cm3 vegetable-based cooking oil
15 cm3 methanol (highly flammable, toxic by inhalation, if
swallowed, and by skin absorption)
1 cm3 potassium hydroxide solution 50% (corrosive).

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Safety

Wear eye protection.


Methanol is flammable and poisonous.
Potassium hydroxide is corrosive.

What to do

1. Measure 100 cm3 of vegetable oil into the 250 cm3 flask. Weigh the
flask before and after to determine the mass of oil you used.
2. Carefully add 15 cm3 of methanol.
3. Slowly add 1 cm3 of 50% potassium hydroxide.
4. Stir or swirl the mixture for 10 minutes.
5. Allow the mixture to stand until it separates into two layers.
6. Carefully remove the top layer (this is impure biodiesel) using a teat
pipette.
7. Wash the product by shaking it with 10 cm 3 of distilled or
deionised water.
8. Allow the mixture to stand until it separates into two layers.
9. Carefully remove the top layer of biodiesel using a teat pipette.
10.Weigh the amount of biodiesel you have collected and compare
it to the amount of vegetable oil you started with.

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Mineral wool

To filter pump

A solution of
2 cm3 of fuel universal
soaked in mineral indicator
wool

Apparatus for testing biodiesel

Activity 2: Testing biodiesel


How does biodiesel compare to other fuels? Just because we can produce a
fuel from an alternative source, does that mean it is a good idea? There are
many factors that go into the decision to use alternative fuels. Ideally the
physical properties of an alternative fuel should equal or exceed those of
the traditional product. But how are fuels evaluated in the first place. In this
activity, biodiesel and some other fuels are tested and compared for
sootiness and acidity.

What you will need

Eye protection
Small glass funnel (approximately 7 cm diameter)
One 250 cm3 flask
Two boiling tubes
One two-hole stopper to fit the boiling tubes
Filter pump
A piece of wide bore glass tubing approximately 10 cm long with
two one-hole stoppers to fit

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A piece of vacuum tubing approximately 35 cm long
Two short pieces of glass tubing to fit the one-hole stoppers 5
cm glass bend to fit the two-hole stopper
90o glass bend to fit the two-hole stopper (one leg to extend to
bottom of flask)
Two stands and clamps
Two small metal sample dishes
A little sodium hydroxide solution 0.1 mol dm-3 (irritant)
Universal indicator solution
A little mineral wool.

Safety

Wear eye protection.


Take care if you have to insert glass tubing into the stoppers
yourself. Make sure that your teacher shows you the correct
technique.

What to do

1. Pour 125 cm3 of distilled water into the 250 cm3 flask and add 10 cm3
of universal indicator. Add one drop of 0.1 mol dm -3 sodium
hydroxide solution and gently swirl the flask so that the colour of the
solution is violet or at the most basic end of the universal indicator
colour range.
2. Place 10 cm3 of this solution into the boiling tube.
3. Assemble the apparatus illustrated in Figure 1, attaching it to the
filter pump with the vacuum tubing.
4. Place 2 cm3 of biodiesel onto a wad of mineral wool in the metal
sample cup.

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5. Turn on the water tap so the filter pump pulls air through the flask
and ignite the biodiesel. Position the funnel directly over the burning
fuel, so as to capture the fumes from the burning fuel. Mark or note
the position of the tap handle so you can run the pump at the same
flow rate later in the experiment.
6. Allow the experiment to run until the universal indicator turns
yellow and time how long this takes.
7. Record what happens in the funnel and in the glass tube
containing the second piece of mineral wool.
8. Clean the apparatus, and repeat the experiment using 2 cm3 of
kerosene (this is very similar to diesel fuel).

Activity 3: Potential for biofuels

1.Technical Feasibility
Can be blended in any ratio with petro-diesel
Existing storage facilities and infrastructure for petro-diesel can be
used with minor alteration.
From environment and emissions point of view it is superior to
petro-diesel.
It can provide energy security to remote and rural areas. It has
good potential for employment generation
2.Sources of Bio-diesel
All Tree Bearing Oil (TBO) seeds - edible and non edible
Edible: Soya-bean, Sun-flower, Mustard Oil etc.
Non-edible: Jatropha Curcas, Pongemia Pinnata, Neem etc. Edible
seeds can't be used for bio-diesel production in our country, as its
indigenous production does not meet our current demand.
Among non-edible TBO, Jatropha Curcas has been identified as the
most suitable seed for India.

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3.Advantages of Jatropha
Jatropha Curcas is a widely occurring variety of TBO
It grows practically all over India under a variety of agro climatic
conditions.
Can be grown in arid zones (20 cm rainfall) as well as in higher rainfall
zones and even on the land with thin soil cover.
Its plantation can be taken up as a quick yielding plant 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 as agro-forestry crops.
It grows as a tree up to the height of 3 - 5 mt.
It is a good plantation for Eco-restoration in all types wasteland.
4.Agro Practices (as per NOVOD, Ministry of Agriculture, GOI)
Nursery raising
Nurseries may be raised in poly-bags filled with mixture of soil and
farm yard manure in the ratio of 4:1.
Two seeds are sown in each bag.
Plantation
30 cm x 30 cm x 30 cm pits are dug
Farm yard manure (2-3 kg), 20 gm urea, 12 gm Single Super Phosphate
(SSP) & 16 gm Mono Phosphate (MP)
Planting density
2500 plants / ha at 2m x 2m
Transplantation
It should be done during rainy reason.
Fertilizer
From second year in the ratio of 40:60:20 Nitrogen Phosphorous and
Potassium (NPK) kg/ha
Irrigation
It is required only for the first two years
Pruning
During first year when branches reach a height of 40-60 cms
Pest & Disease control
No disease or insects noticed to be harmful
Flowering and fruiting
Flowering: Sept.- Dec. & March- April
Fruiting
After 2 months of flowering.

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5.State-wise area undertaken by NOVOD for Jatropha Plantation
State Area (ha)
Andhra Pradesh 44
Bihar 10
Chhatisgarh 190
Gujarat 240
Haryana 140
Karnataka 80
Madhya Pradesh 260
Maharashtra 150
Mizoram 20
Rajasthan 275
Tamil Nadu 60
Uttaranchal 50
Uttar Pradesh 200

Economics Rate(Rs.
(as per Planning /
Commission Report onCost(Rs.)
Bio-fuels,
Activities Quantity(Kg)
Kg)
2003)
Seed 5.00 3.28 16.40
Cost of collection & oil
2.36 1.05 2.48
extraction
Less cake produced 1.00 2.23 (-) 2.23
Trans-esterification 6.67 1.00 6.67
Less cost of glycerin
40 to 60 0.095 (-) 3.8 to 5.7
produced
Cost of Bio-diesel per 19.52 to
kg 17.62
Cost of Bio-diesel per 16.59 to
litre (Sp. Gravity 0.85) 14.98

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7. Employment potential (as per Planning Commission report on
bio-fuels, 2003))
Likely demand of petro diesel by 2006-07 will be 52 MMT and by
2011-12 it will increase to 67 MMT.
5% blend of Bio-diesel with petro diesel will require 2.6 MMT of
Bio-diesel in 2006-07
By 2011-12, for 20% blend with Petro-diesel, the likely demand will
be 13.4 MMT.
To meet the requirement of 2.6 MMT of bio-diesel, plantation of
Jatropha should be done on 2.2 - 2.6 million ha area.
11.2 - 13.4 million ha of land should be covered by 2011 - 12 for 20%
bio-diesel blending
It will generate following no. of jobs in following areas.
No. of jobs in Operation of BD
Year In maintenance
plantation units
2006-07 2.5 million 0.75 million 0.10 million
2011-12 13.0 million 3.9 million 0.30 million
Oil content
35% to 40%
Collection and processing
Ripe fruits collected from trees.
8. Efforts of National Oilseed and Vegetable Oil Development
Board (NOVOD)
Systematic state/region wise survey for identification of superior trees
and superior seeds.
Maintenance of record on seeds/trees.
Samples of high yield to be sent to National Bureau of Plant Genetic
Resources (NBPGR) for accession and cryo- preservation.
NOVOD has developed improved Jatropha seeds, which have oil
contents up to 1.5 times of ordinary seeds.
However, being in short supply, initially these improved Jatropha
seeds would be supplied only to Agricultural Universities for
multiplication and development.
After multiplication these would be supplied to different states for
further cultivation. This program is likely to take 3 - 4 years.
It is also working for development of multi-purpose post-harvest

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technology tools like decorticator and de-huller, which would further
improve oil recovery.

9. Trans-esterification Process
Catalyst(Sodium or Glycerin(Used
Vegetable Bio-
Alcohol Potassiu m for medicinal
Oil diesel
Hydroxide) value)
100 gm 12 gm 1 gm 11 gm 95 gm
It is the displacement of alcohol from an ester by another alcohol in a
similar process to hydrolysis.
Vegetable Oil i.e. the triglyceride can be easily trans-esterified in the
presence of alkaline catalyst at atmospheric pressure and at temperature
of approximately 60 to 70oC with an excess of methanol.
If 100 gm of vegetable oil is taken, 1 gm of the alkaline catalyst
(Potassium Hydroxide), and 12 gm of Methanol would be required As a
first step, the alkaline catalyst is mixed with methanol and the mixture
is stirred for half an hour for its homogenization.
This mixture is mixed with vegetable oil and the resultant mixture is
made to pass through reflux condensation at 65oC.
The mixture at the end is allowed to settle.
The lower layer will be of glycerin and it is drain off.
The upper layer of bio-diesel (a methyl ester) is washed to remove
entrained glycerin.
The excess methanol recycled by distillation.
This reaction works well with high quality oil. If the oil contains 1%
Free Fatty Acid (FFA), then difficulty arises because of soap
formation. If FFA content is more than 2% the reaction becomes
unworkable.
Methanol is inflammable and Potassium Hydroxide is caustic, hence
proper and safe handling of these chemicals are must.

10. Agencies & Institutes working in the field of bio-diesel


National Oil seeds and Vegetable Oil Board, Gurgaon PCRA -
Petroleum Conservation Research Association (MOP&NG)
IOC (R&D) Centre, Faridabad
Delhi College of Engineering
IIT, Delhi

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IIP, Dehradun
Downstream National Oil Companies
Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad CSIR
Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources
Central Pollution Control Board
Bureau of Indian Standards
Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency
States, which have made some lead
Uttranchal:
Uttaranchal Bio-fuel Board (UBB) has been constituted as a nodal agency
for bio-diesel promotion in the state.
Has undertaken Jatropha plantation in an area of 1 lakh hectare. UBB
has established Jatropha Gene Bank to preserve high yielding seed
varieties.
Has ambitious plan to produce 100 million liters of bio-diesel.
Andhra Pradesh:
Govt. of AP (GoAP) to encourage Jatropha plantation in 10 rain shadow
districts of AP
Task force for it has been constituted at district and state level GoAP
proposed Jatropha cultivation in 15 lakh acres in next 4 years
Initial target is 2 lakh acres
Irrigation to be dovetailed with Jatropha cultivation 90%
drip subsidy is proposed
Jatropha cultivation to be taken up only in cultivable lands with existing
farmers.
Crop and yield insurance is proposed
Chhattisgarh:
6 lakh saplings of Jatropha have been planted with the involvement of
State's Forest, Agriculture, Panchayat and Rural Development
Departments
As per the Deputy Chairman, State Planning Board, the state has the
target to cover 1 million ha of land under Jatropha plantation Ten
reputed bio-diesel companies, including the UK-based D1 Oils, have
offered to set up Jatropha oil-extraction units or to buy the produce from
farmers in Chhattisgarh.
Companies like Indian Oil, Indian Railways and Hindustan Petroleum
have each deposited Rs 10 lakh as security for future

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MoUs with the state government.
11. Farmers' Initiatives in Haryana
Farmers in Haryana have formed NGOs and cooperatives for promotion
of Jatropha plantation.
These NGOs and cooperatives are raising nurseries for Jatropha
plantation and supplying saplings to others for further cultivation. They
have been blending directly Jatropha Oil into diesel fuel and
successfully using this blend in their tractors and diesel engines without
any problems.
These NGOs and cooperatives are also organizing the practical
demonstration of this usage in their demonstration workshops. They are
organizing local seminars, workshops and conferences etc. to promote
the usage of Jatropha oil.
NGOs have also printed some booklets on Jatropha plantation.
12. Current usages of bio-diesel / Trials & testing of bio-diesel
Usages of bio-diesel are similar to that of petro-diesel Shatabadi
Express was run on 5% blend of bio-diesel from Delhi to Amritsar on
31st Dec. 2002 in association with IOC.
Field trials of 10% bio-diesel blend were also done on Lucknow-
Allahabad Jan Shatabdi Express also through association with IOC.
HPCL is also carrying out field trials in association with BEST

Bio-Diesel blend from IOC (R&D) is being used in buses in


Mumbai as well as in Rewari, in Haryana on trial basis .

CSIR and Daimler Chrysler have jointly undertaken a successful 5000


km trial run of Mercedes cars using bio-diesel as fuel.
NOVOD has initiated test run by blending 10% bio diesel in
collaboration with IIT, Delhi in Tata Sumo & Swaraj Mazda
vehicles.

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BIO-PETROL
Introduction

Measures to be implemented to resolve the problem of sewage sludge


that contain a high degree of organic matter could primarily aim at
recycling it through a thermo chemical pyrolysis process in order to
recover hydrocarbons that make up the structure of sewage sludge.
Pyrolysis of sewage sludge produces oil, gas and char products. The
pyrolysis oils have also been shown to contain valuable chemicals in
significant concentrations and hence may have the potential to be used as
chemical feedstock. The production of a liquid product increases the ease
of handling, storage and transport.

The technology, improved by BioPetrol Ltd. (patent pending) is capable


of processing carbon wastes, other than sewage sludge, including agri-
wastes, bagasse, pulp and paper residues, tannery sludge and other end-
of-life products such as plastics, tires and the organics in municipal solid
waste.The process of low temperature thermochemical conversion of
municipal sewage sludge to oil is a new technology in developed
countries. The amount of investment is still less than the amount invested in
the sewage sludge incineration process, and the operational economy of
the process is obviously superior to incineration.

The BioPetrol, Ltd. integrated thermochemical process (patent pending)


recovers about 1,100,000 Kcal from each 283 kg of sewage sludge 90%
D.S. after the thermal evaporating of 717kg water from each dewatered
ton (1,000 kg) of sewage sludge 26% D.S.

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The BioPetrol process begins with sewage sludge at 90% D.S. Sewage
sludge drying equipment is used commonly for the evaporative removal of
interstitial water from the sludge. Numerous drying technologies exist on
the market.

Market Analysis and Strategy

Three potential products/services:

1. Disposal of Sewage Sludge – Disposal of sewage sludge comprises


over 30% of wastewater treatment plants’ budget. Customers of this
service are local communities. They are willing to pay top dollar for the
disposal of their sludge. For example: Holland
$50-$90 per ton, U.S., Canada and Australia, up to $150 per ton. The US
produces 25 million tons of sludge annually (2001).

2. Synthetic Crude Oil – Excess crude oil, beyond what is being


recirculated to run equipment A+B is about 30 kg per 1 ton sewage
sludge 90% D.S. Oil energy = 8,900 Kcal/kg same as diesel oil used in
heavy industry. There are references in professional literature to
numerous valuable chemicals in significant concentration that are present
in pyrolysis oils.

BioPetrol Ltd has on board, as a shareholder, an internationally renowned


scientist-academician to address this issue.

3. Selling the Technology - With the completion of the development of the


process and equipment for its operation, BioPetrol. Ltd. will have the
technology to sell to world markets. Potential markets are water
authorities, municipalities, wastewater treatment plants, entrepreneurs,
sewage sludge disposal contractors, sludge drying operators.

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BioPetrol, ltd. has been awarded a grant of $300,000 for a period of 2 years
by Israel’s Office of the Chief Scientist to conduct advanced R&D. The
company has concluded and proved the viability of the process and is
now on the verge of constructing a demonstration pilot for a continuous
process.

BioPetrol is seeking an investment of US$400,000 for the completion of the


demonstration pilot. A business plan is available for further details.

Technology

The technological processes at issue in the Bio-Petrol project belong to the


sphere of liquefying carbon-rich solid fuels. The liquefaction processes
common today comprise two stages:

1. Thermal breakdown of the molecular structure to create radical


fractions different in size.

2. Stabilization of the radicals by recombining themselves or by


redistribution of hydrogen from the raw material itself or by hydrogen
that is introduced from outside (molecular hydrogen or from hydrogen-
donor matter).

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Bio-Petrol Company has carried out R&D work which has resulted in the
formulation of a suitable process for producing synthetic oil from sewage
sludge with larger output than that obtained from the common process-i.e.
pyrolysis. By integrating familiar liquefaction methods the company
developed a process of high utilization of the organic matter that is in the
sewage sludge that produces oil and gas in larger quantities and of better
quality.

What is Ethanol?

Ethanol is part of a category of molecules called alcohols. The simplest


alcohol is called methanol and is very similar to a compound called
methane. Methane is a molecule composed of one carbon atom
surrounded by 4 hydrogen atoms. In methanol, one of these hydrogen
atoms is replaced with an oxygen atom with a hydrogen atom attached to
it. This two atom group, oxygen attached to a hydrogen, is called an
alcohol group.

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Any molecule that has an alcohol group attached to it can be called an
alcohol. To make it easier to talk about, chemists add an “ol” on the end
of a chemicals name to indicate that it has an alcohol group. Therefore,
methane with an alcohol group attached is called methanol.

For ethanol, it is an ethane molecule –two carbon atoms, with six


hydrogen atoms surrounding them—with one hydrogen replaced by an
alcohol group. Then, the name ethane is changed to ethanol, to indicate
that it is an alcohol.

How Ethanol is Made

Ethanol has been used by humans for thousands of years, in part because
it is easy to make. In fact, nature can make it for us in a process called
fermentation.

Fermentation is a biochemical process carried out by microscopic


organisms called yeast. Yeast are anaerobic, meaning they can live and
eat without needing oxygen. Many living things eat sugar, and yeast eat
sugar too. When there is no oxygen, yeast chow down on sugar, but they
can’t get all of the energy that is available in sugar out of it. Instead they
use it to get some energy, and in the process of digesting it, convert it into
ethanol and carbon dioxide Petrol.

Yeast are even used to make bread. When making bread, bakers use the
yeasts ability to make carbon dioxide Petrol to make the bread rise,
making it thicker. If it were not for yeast, pizza dough would be flatter
than a pancake.

Scientists have also invented ways to make ethanol synthetically,


without utilizing nature’s help. The process converts a byproduct of
making Petrololine into ethanol. Although this process is used, more than
90% of the ethanol produced per year is made using yeast.

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Replacing Petrololine with Corn?

Yeast only consume simple sugars, so only certain foods are good for
putting them to work making ethanol. Bakers use the sugar that you can
find in your kitchen. But it takes a lot of kitchen sugar to fill the tank of
your car with ethanol. Some countries, such as Brazil,
that grow a lot of sugar use it to make ethanol for cars. Brazil has been
producing ethanol fuels for decades. The United States does not have
enough sugar cane plants to do this. Instead, the U.S. has focused on
using corn.

Corn has less sugar in it than sugar cane, requiring scientists to develop
ways to convert corn’s more complex sugars into simple sugars. Critics
of using corn for fuel say that it takes more energy to make ethanol from
corn than it takes to make regular Petrololine.

However, a recent review of many different studies in the American


Chemical Society journal, Environmental Science and Technology,
suggests that in most cases, using corn would still save us from using as
much fossil fuels as we would if we just used Petrololine.

Sticks, husks, and grass to Ethanol?

A new method is being developed that may be even more promising than
using corn or sugar cane as yeast food. All plants make a complex sugar
called cellulose and it is one of the most abundant plant materials on
earth. Cotton is almost all cellulose, and some forms of cellulose can be
found in many of the foods that we eat. Trees have it. Grass has it. Even
corn stalks. But yeast don’t eat cellulose.

Recently several groups of researchers have developed enzymes, which


are complex molecules that operate like little machines, to break apart
cellulose into simple sugars that the yeast can eat.

What makes this very interesting is that farms and other industries
already produce tons and tons of waste materials that contain cellulose.
Just imagine, all the sticks and grass clippings from your yard or
playground could be turned into fuel for your car. Farms can also grow
plants for making ethanol. President George W. Bush mentioned one of
these, switch grass, in the 2006 State of the Union address.

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Therefore, farms or timber companies can convert their waste into
ethanol. There is also one additional benefit, and challenge to processing
cellulose. Cellulose is often stuck together with another
plant compound called lignin. Lignins are compounds that make plants
strong, and they trap cellulose. Lignins are one of the waste products of
papermaking. But, lignin materials extracted from waste materials used
for making ethanol can be burned to power the process, saving more fossil
fuels.

It’s not a question of if we will stop using oil but when. Soon, we will all
have to replace oil with a different, renewable source and ethanol may be
the answer.

2
……….**…………
CONCLUSION
……….**…………

3
www.chemistry.org

www.ott.doe.gov/biofuels/environment.html

www.pcra.org

https://www.youtube.com/@ALLINVESTIGATORYPROJECTS

https://t.me/allinvestigatoryprojects

PETROLIAM CONSERVATION RESEARCH


ASSOSIATION (PCRA) national bio fuel
center.

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