Biodiesel fuel processing

Abstract

Biodiesel is formed by blending an with a hydrocarbon fuel, preferably #2 diesel, gasoline, or kerosene. Water in the mixture, and other impurities, are removed by adding a coalescing aid such as naphtha, xylene or naphthalene and passing the mixture through a series of filters including a coalescing filter. Optional components that can be added to the fuel include cetane additives, lubricants such as trimethylbenzene and ethylene, as well as performance enhancers such as acetone.

Description

RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application claims the benefit of provisional application No. 60 / 763,176 filed Jan. 30, 2006, entitled “Biodiesel Home Fueling Station”, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]Biodiesel is a fuel formed from naturally obtained fatty acids, i.e., from either vegetable oils or animal fats. Traditionally, biodiesel has been formed by the transesterification of fatty acids. In this process, an alcohol, typically a lower alkyl monoalcohol, is reacted under basic or acid conditions with the fatty acids. This produces the monoalkyl ester of the fatty acids, as well as glycerin, water and other impurities.[0003]These impurities, as well as other impurities that are naturally present in the fatty acid, must be removed. In particular, removing the water is somewhat problematic. The traditional method of doing so is a physical separation in which the transesterification reaction product is simply allowed to set...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0007]The present invention is premised on the realization that biodiesel can be formed from natural fatty acids without a transesterification reaction. According to the present invention, natural fatty acids are blended with kerosene or #2 diesel and a low viscosity, low molecular weight hydrocarbon which acts as a coalescing aid. The water and impurities dissolved in the water are then removed using a coalescent filter. Other impurities, such as glycerin, particulates, as well as polyaromatic compounds, can then be filtered out by a carbon or activated carbon filter. This reduces the overall time required to produce the biodiesel and, further, requires no transesterification reaction.

[0008]Preferred coalescing aids include naphtha and naphthalene. In addition to the coalescing aid, a cetane improving composition, acetone, and a lubricity aid such as trimethylbenzene, are added to the biodiesel formulation to further improve the performance of the product.

Problems solved by technology

This reduces the overall time required to produce the biodiesel and, further, requires no transesterification reaction.

Images