This news article was originally written in Spanish. It has been automatically translated for your convenience. Reasonable efforts have been made to provide an accurate translation, however, no automated translation is perfect nor is it intended to replace a human translator. The original article in Spanish can be viewed at Primeros pasos para conseguir un biodiésel mejor y más barato

Investigation

First steps to achieve a biodiésel better and cheaper

Editorial Interempresas23/09/2013

The UPV/EHU is studying some methods to produce of way easier and economic the supplements that needs the biodiésel to work properly in our vehicles.

Save some relation the wine and the biodiésel? The answer is that yes, although it seem amazing. The acetales are compound chemists that find in a lot of wines, as, for example, in the port wine, to the cual contributes him a special and sweet smell. Nevertheless, if the acetales mix with the biodiésel, improve the properties of east. The group of investigation Supren of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Environingingment of the School of Upper Technical Engineering of Bilbao (UPV/EHU) works in a project that treats to promote the use of this little common fuel. The question is to produce acetales of way easier and cheap. The starting point are the alcohol obtained of the rich plants in sugars, or the glicerina, a by-product of the biodiésel, that also is a type of alcohol. The purpose is to find an industrial process to achieve the supplements that will improve the biodiésel that later will put in our vehicles.

Ion Agirre, researcher of the UPV/EHU.

If we compare the derivative diesel of the oil with the derivative of the plants, the biodiésel possesses better properties of untuosidad and biodegradation; but, instead, it results worse from the point of view of the oxidation, of the energetic potential and of the pollution. The group Supren (Sustainable Process Engineering Group; Group of Engineering of Sustainable Processes in Spanish) of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Environingingment of the School of Engineering of Bilbao (UPV/EHU) is analysing the supplements that would improve said disadvantages. They have deepened especially regarding the production of acetales.

From the point of view of the chemicals, the acetales obtain by reaction of an alcohol and an aldehyde. They generate of natural way in the processes of fermentation. For example, in a lot of wines like the port wine, the acetales are indicators of quality, because of the so special smell and sweet that contribute him to the wine. When pouring the liquid from the glasses to the deposit of fuel, the acetales improve the properties of the biodiésel when mixing with east: the combustion is more effective, and, besides, contaminates less, because it increases the performance of the engine. It has particular importance to achieve a method to obtain acetales of an easy and cheap way, since a litre of biodiésel can contain, roughly, a 15 % of acetales.

From the laboratory to the industry

It is easy to produce acetales in a laboratory, but design a process to industrial level already is another thing, according to the researcher of the UPV/EHU Ion Agirre. It is treating to make possible this process with the help of his mates of the group Supren. They have experienced with the alcohol derived of the rich plants in sugars (the cane of sugar, the beetroot...), and also with the glicerina, both alcohols of renewable origin. The glicerina also is an alcohol, and is a by-product that obtains of the reaction to achieve the biodiésel. It employs , especially, in creams and cosmetic products, but is difficult to direct all the glicerina generated in the production of the biodiésel to this use. By this reason, would be advantageous to validate this compound in the production of acetales.

One of the conclusions of the investigation has been that the acetales based in the glicerina trasmiten better properties to the biodiésel, in comparison with the alcohols derived of the rich plants in sugars, as for example, the ethanol or the butanol. Besides, they have investigated which would be the most adapted process to produce acetales from the point of view of the performance. And it is that the level of conversion of the reaction oscillates between a 50 % and a 60 %, that is to say, only converts this quantity of alcohol in acetal. The aim, so that the process was valid industrialmente, would be to arrive to the 100 % of the performance or conversion, and the last experiments have showed that it is possible. Using a resin like solid catalyst, instead of the sulphurous acid, and the glicerina and the butiraldehído or the acetaldehído like starting point, have obtained some performances of the 100 %.

Have employed technical of laboratory to achieve these results, some technicians still no very developed to industrial level; but it seems feasible the production of acetales derived of the glicerina by means of conventional technicians. By means of these investigations, has been possible to have a thorough knowledge the reactions to obtain acetales, making possible the design of a process to industrial level and advancing the details of the costs that would suppose the production of the acetales.

The group Supren (Sustainable Process Engineering Group; Group of Engineering of Sustainable Processes in Spanish) is a group of investigation of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Environingingment of the School of Upper Technical Engineering of Bilbao (UPV/EHU). Between other things, examine the characterisation of the fuels. In the field of the renewable raw materials, are investigating new systems of catálisis and supplements that would improve the properties of the biodiésel, for example, splitting of the glicerina that generates in the production of the biodiésel. The result of this work is the article Glycerol acetals ace diesel additives: Kinetic study of the reaction between glycerol and acetaldehyde, published in the magazine Fuel Processing Technology. The members of the group that investigate on the acetales are the following: The chairs and doctors in Industrial Engineering José Francisco Cambra Ibañez and Pedro Luis Arias Ergueta. The professor and doctor in Chemical Engineering Jesús María Requies Martinez. The professors and doctors in Industrial Engineering Victoria Laura Neighbourhood Cagigal and María Belén Güemez Bilbao, and the professor attach and doctor in Chemical Engineering Ion Agirre Arisketa.