Facing the Industry's Challenges: A Focus on Testing Standards

September 16, 2008

BY Raj Shah and Vincent Colantuoni

Multiple obstacles need to be overcome in order for biodiesel to become a mainstream energy source. Issues range from feedstock cost and availability to fuel quality and the international compatibility of the fuel's testing standards. Unfortunately, these issues can't be resolved overnight. The road for getting biodiesel to the fuel market's main stage will be long, taking possibly five to 10 years before significant changes take shape.

The discussion of the biodiesel industry's challenges naturally begins with feedstocks. The quality and usability of vegetable oils is of utmost importance. The current cost of a variety of biodiesel feedstocks is too high for some producers to remain profitable. This is due primarily to the fact that biodiesel feedstocks, particularly vegetable oils, have other uses besides producing energy, such as human nutritional needs. Since only a fraction of vegetable oil production is available for non-food use, the food-versus-fuel debate has gained momentum. Simply growing and producing more vegetable oil isn't feasible on a large scale due to a finite amount of land and other natural limitations.

A "new agriculture" system, such as algae, must be developed so that the industry doesn't compete with food crops for land use. A public policy initiative would act as a catalyst and push the thinking in this direction. Such a policy should be performance-based. Ultimately, a system of development and sustainability must be in effect in order for the growth of biodiesel to be successful.

A second challenge facing the biodiesel industry is quality control. Cold flow properties and oxidative stability are issues that affect biodiesel quality. These properties differ slightly depending on which feedstock is used to produce the fuel. For example, biodiesel derived from palm oil, tallow or used cooking oils generally has worse cold-flow properties than biodiesel produced from soybean or canola oil.

The oxidative stability of biodiesel differs significantly from that of petroleum diesel. The rate at which this oxidation occurs increases with higher temperatures. The chemical composition of biodiesel also contributes to its oxidation. Again, the composition depends on the feedstock used. Biodiesel composed of unsaturated fatty acid alkyl ester-like linoleic and linolenic acid esters are more susceptible to oxidation than saturated fatty acid esters.

Diverse Standards, Diverse Solutions
The worldwide diversity of biodiesel testing standards is a major issue in the effort to make biodiesel a mainstream energy source. As long as the major testing organizations have different views on quality parameters, it will continue to be difficult to produce and distribute biodiesel worldwide. An effort is underway to make biofuels standards internationally compatible. Participants include the government of Brazil, the European Commission, which represents the European Union, and the U.S. government. A Biofuels Standards Roadmap was developed in April 2007 that delineated the steps needed to be undertaken by the United States, Brazil and the EU to achieve greater compatibility among existing biofuels standards.

Technical work began in July 2007 and classification of the various specifications was complete by the end of 2007. The classification was accompanied by comments on the extent and relative impact of the work that would be needed to bring closer alignment between the specifications, thus forming a preliminary basis for prioritization of the next steps.

The various specifications were classified into three categories: A, B and C. Category A represents specifications that are already similar. Category B represents specifications with significant differences between parameters and methods, but which might be aligned by work on documentary and measurement standards. Category C represents specifications with fundamental differences, perhaps due to emissions or environmental regulations within one or more regions, which are not deemed bridgeable in the foreseeable future. The classifications of the various biodiesel specifications are seen in the table on page 103.

The diversity among existing specifications is a result of a number of factors. The first is that some existing specifications have been formulated primarily around their locally available feedstock. This feedstock diversity is then translated into significant divergences in specification properties for the derived fuels.

Another factor is that some specifications, such as those in the United States and Brazil, are based on biodiesel's use as a blendstock or extender for fossil-based diesel fuel. However, others, such as the European specification, is based on biodiesel's use as a 100 percent blend for engines and a blending component for diesel fuel. Further, some biodiesel standards are applicable to both fatty acid methyl esters and fatty acid ethyl esters, while others only pertain to one of the two.

Another source of the difference in regional biodiesel specifications is the predominance of the type of diesel engine most common in that region. For example, the most prominent diesel engine in Europe is found in passenger cars. This diesel engine is fairly different than the heavy-duty diesel engines found in the United States and Brazil. The different engines amount to differences in emissions regulations. Diverse emissions regulations contribute to differences in diesel specifications. Because the region's biodiesel specifications were based on their corresponding diesel specifications, the regional differences were carried over to biodiesel.

A variety of agencies must be involved in order to cover all of the areas discussed. This makes finding a universal solution to making biodiesel a mainstream energy source much more complicated. Alignment of the international biofuels standards will require a large investment of time and effort in testing and research by specialists in laboratories, test facilities and private companies worldwide. The global energy crisis can only be resolved with global cooperation.

Raj Shah is the director of sales, marketing and technical services with Koehler Instrument Co. Inc. Reach him at rshah@koehlerinstrument.com or (631) 589-3800. Vincent Colantuoni is sales application engineer with Koehler Instrument Co. Inc. Reach him at vcolantuoni@koehlerinstrument.com or (631) 589-3800.

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