Transestrification of Vegetable Oil to Produce Biodiesel

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TRANSESTRIFICATION OF VEGETABLE OIL AJCE CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND The twenty-first century introduced an era of increased global petroleum demand that has not been met with an increase in oil production. China’s oil imports grew at an unprecedented 23% in 2003 and have driven worldwide demand up 2.9% to 81.1 million barrels daily, an increase in demand not seen since 1980.Oil production facilities and refineries are operating near capacity around the world and are unable to keep pace with such rapid demand growth. World reserves are low and this tight supply situation creates a highly volatile market that reacts violently to shocks. Without reserves to buffer price shocks, the threat of terrorism is captured in increased risk premiums in the price of oil. Higher oil prices erode revenues by increasing costs throughout the economy .The only way to insulate the economy from petroleum price shocks is to lower the dependence on petroleum in the economy. The most practical and least disruptive strategy to achieve this objective is to use alternative fuels. Biodiesel is a diesel fuel alternative produced from oilseeds, primarily soy, and can be grown and produced domestically. Biodiesel is attractive as an alternative fuel source because its emissions profile is cleaner than that of diesel fuel. Biodiesel can be used in diesel engines without modification, and can be blended with petro-diesel fuel effectively. A blend of 20 % biodiesel and 80 % diesel fuel, called B20, is currently the most widely used form of biodiesel. 1.2 HISTORY Worldwide, oilseed crops occupy an area of 166.36 million hectares with a production of 295.6 million tonnes and productivity of 1777 kg/ha . In India, area under oilseeds is 23.7 million hectares with a production of about 25 million tonnes and a productivity of just about one ton/hectare. The oilseed
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