Contemporary climate challenges and energy security issues once again demonstrate that the transition to alternative motor fuels is a key and priority task for ensuring sustainable development in European Union countries, as well as in Ukraine. This review provides a comparative analysis of the physical, chemical, and performance properties of biodiesel fuels derived from 17 lipid-based feedstocks, including vegetable oils, animal fats, food industry waste, and microalgae. This study investigates the influence of fatty acid composition and transesterification alcohol type on key fuel properties, including density, viscosity, cetane number, pour point, heat value, and flash point. The results show that biodiesel fuels with a high content of saturated fatty acids exhibit higher cetane numbers and energy content, while biodiesel fuels with a high content of unsaturated fatty acids possess improved viscosity and cold flow properties. Camelina, rapeseed, and used cooking oil are identified as being particularly promising feedstocks based on their performance and availability in the European and Ukrainian dimensions. These findings are supported by a SWOT analysis and cost–benefit comparison, providing practical insights into the feasibility and scalability of biodiesel production pathways.
The paper presents an analytical review of technological processes of alternative jet fuel production from alcohols and experimental results on the study of its physical-chemical properties. State-of-the-art in the sphere of civil aviation development within the framework of sustainable development and minimization of transport’s negative impact on the environment is presented. The development and implementation of sustainable aviation fuels are considered the main measure for reaching carbon-neutral growth. Two technologies of alcohol-to-jet fuel production are considered, and possible feedstock and processing pathways are presented. Physical-chemical properties of two kinds of alcohol-to-jet fuels are studied experimentally, as well as the properties of conventional jet fuels blended with alternative ones. It is shown that the physical-chemical properties of jet fuels blended with alcohol-to-jet component containing aromatics are very close to conventional jet fuels. All of the studied fuel blends with alcohol-to-jet components completely satisfy the requirements of specifications. Basing on the received results it is expected that alcohol-to-jet component containing aromatics may be successfully used for blending with conventional jet fuel and used as a drop-in fuel.
15 September 2016 in Chemistry & Chemical Technology
The work is devoted to the development of alternative jet fuel blended with rapeseed oil-derived biocomponents and study of their physical-chemical properties. The modification of conventional jet fuel by rapeseed oil esters was chosen for this work among the variety of technologies for alternative jet fuels development. The main characteristics of conventional jet fuel and three kinds of biocomponents were determined and compared to the standards requirements to jet fuel of Jet A-1 grade. The most important or identifying physical-chemical properties of jet fuels were determined for the scope of this study. Among them are: density, viscosity, fractional composition, freezing point and net heat of combustion. The influence of rapeseed oil-derived biocomponents on the mentioned above characteristics of blended jet fuels was studied and explained.
The growing demand for sustainable and environmentally friendly fuels and the increasing need to diversify energy sources have stimulated significant research in the field of renewable motor fuels. Despite the progress made, there is still a need to expand the feedstocks, optimize technological pathways, and, in particular, conduct comprehensive studies of the compatibility of renewable components with traditional fuels. In light of the above, the authors propose optimizing the properties of renewable fuels by using new vegetable oils and alcohols for their synthesis. The work is focused on studying the basic physical–chemical properties of fatty acid esters and assessing the possibility of using them as renewable components of motor fuels. Renewable components were obtained via the esterification of selected plant oils (rapeseed oil, camelina oil, palm kernel oil, and coconut oil) with different alcohols (ethanol and isobutanol) with further vacuum distillation of esters. The influence of the structure and composition of renewable components on their physical–chemical properties was studied and substantiated. It shows how the carbon number distribution and double bonds in fatty acid radicals influence the properties of renewable components. The paper shows the impact of the type and structure of alcohol used for esterification on the properties of studied products. The regularities in the change in properties of renewable components depending on the composition of oils and alcohols are explained and substantiated from the point of view of physical chemistry and the basics of forces of intermolecular interactions. Renewable components were compared to the properties of conventional motor fuels (diesel fuel and jet fuel). Based on the level of component compatibility with petroleum fuels, recommendations for replacing or blending petroleum fuels with renewable components were proposed.