Twice I have seen references for studies that demonstrate that Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO) based biodiesel (recycled yellow grease) lowers the emissions of NOX significantly below virgin soy based biodiesel. This is important because the NOx levels are the only emission parameter that is not significantly to profoundly lowered compared to conventional diesel fuel in the EPA official values for the environmental characteristics of biodiesel. In turn, this is due to there only having been one set of samples analyzed for the emissions from biodiesel, submitted by the National Biodiesel Board under the Tier 1 testing requirements of the 40 CFR 79 regulations. The funding for these test samples came mostly from the Soy Council, so, naturally the tests were done on soy oil.
All of the biodiesel produced in this country is now certified for public use based on these original soy oil tests, even biodiesel made from other sources, such as tallow, lard or WVO. But there are some profound chemical differences between these compounds, even between new soy oil and used soy oil. If one looks at the chemical bonds in the ester chains of the oil, the number of double carbon=carbon bonds is reduced to nearly zero in used oil, the oil "relaxes" after it has been heated and used. This in turn changes the chemical makeup of biodiesel made from either of these oils. Biodiesel from virgin soy oil has an increase in NOx emissions. These emissions are precursors of smog and acid rain, and also cause lung irritation. Virgin soy based biodiesel may increase NOx by 2% to 6%, depending on the engine. This can be corrected by readjusting the timing of the engine, and the newest technologies from VW do this automatically. But the increase is not acceptable to some government and institutional agencies even though the total smog production potential is substantially reduced overall. California (and several other states by inclusion in legal interties) now bans new diesel cars because of the NOx issue. They also will not endorse biodiesel, even though it does a lot of good for air quality, because of this documented increase in NOx. The studies I am seeking documentation on show that the increase of NOx on WVO based biodiesel is almost nonexistent, or at most 1 to 2%. This is a 3 to 4 fold reduction in the production of this pollutant, compared to soy based biodiesel. Any information would be helpful. Tom Leue ----------------------------- Homestead Inc. www.yellowbiodiesel.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
