Biodiesel:
The Use of Vegetable Oils and Their Derivatives as
Alternative Diesel Fuels
Gerhard Knothe*, Robert O.
Dunn and Marvin O.
Bagby
Oil Chemical Research, National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research,
Agricultural Research Service, U.
S....
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Biodiesel:
The Use of Vegetable Oils and Their Derivatives as
Alternative Diesel Fuels
Gerhard Knothe*, Robert O.
Dunn and Marvin O.
Bagby
Oil Chemical Research, National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research,
Agricultural Research Service, U.
S.
Department of Agriculture,
Peoria, IL 61604
Vegetable oils and their derivatives (especially methyl esters),
commonly referred to as “biodiesel,” are prominent candidates as
alternative diesel fuels.
They have advanced from being purely
experimental fuels to initial stages of commercialization.
They are
technically competitive with or offer technical advantages compared to
conventional diesel fuel.
Besides being a renewable and domestic
resource, biodiesel reduces most emissions while engine performance
and fuel economy are nearly identical compared to conventional fuels.
Several problems, however, remain, which include economics,
combustion, some emissions, lube oil contamination, and lowtemperature properties.
An overview on a
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