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6 Types of Eco-friendly Fuel for Sustainability

Hyundai Motorstudio Senayan Park 2022.05.06

The Indonesian government has declared independence and national energy security through the use of eco friendly fuel and renewable energy sources (EBT). This achievement is in line with the utilization of the potential of domestic natural resources, one of which is the use of palm oil.

Palm oil which is abundant in Indonesia will be processed to produce various types of biofuels as a substitute for fossil fuels. So, what is meant by biofuel and what are the types? Citing The Palm Scribe page, biofuels are fuels that contain energy and components obtained from plants or biomass.

Biofuels can be in the form of pure fuels made from vegetable oil or animal fats or a mixture of diesel oil produced from fossil crude oil, with Fatty Acid Methyl Esters (FAME) based on vegetable or animal oils.

Bioethanol, biodiesel, and biogas are types of biofuels. Biofuels are energy made from living materials, usually plants. Biofuels are considered renewable energy, reduce the role of fossil fuels and have received attention in the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Bioethanol is made by fermentation of biomass such as tubers, corn or sugar cane, followed by distillation. This type of bioethanol can be used directly or indirectly as a fuel.

Biodiesel is oil from plants or animals that has been used as an alternative or combined with diesel oil for cars and industrial fleets with diesel engines. Biodiesel uses crude palm oil (Crude Palm Oil), castor oil, coconut oil, Palm Fatty Acid Distillate (PFAD), and fish oil. The body cell can be used in diesel engines without modification.

In Indonesia, the most widely used vegetable oil for the manufacture of biofuels is palm oil. The following are the types of biofuels as quoted from The Palm Scribe page.

1. Biodiesel

Eco friendly fuel Biodiesel is a fuel used in diesel engines and contains fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) which are made from vegetable oils or animal fats through an esterification or transesterification process. Biodiesel can be pure FAME otherwise known as B100 or various grades of diesel oil blends. It is this percentage of biodiesel content that will determine its name. For example, B30 is a mixture of 30 percent biodiesel and 70 percent diesel oil.

BIODIESEL (fatty acid methyl ester)

Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME) is commonly known as biodiesel and is a type of first generation biofuel. FAME is produced by transesterification, a relatively simple conversion process that can be performed using simple equipment.

Thus, biodiesel can be produced on a small scale in small-sized facilities and at relatively low capital costs.

RAW MATERIAL

In Indonesia, eco friendly fuel biodiesel is mostly produced from palm oil, but basically biodiesel can be produced from several types of feedstock, including:

Food crops containing vegetable oil: palm oil, coconut, and soybeans.
Wastes and residues: animal fats (eg, beef tallow, lard, poultry fat and fish oil), used cooking oil, and residue from palm oil refining (eg, palm fatty acid distillate, and palm oil sludge). Palm oil sludge is a floating oil residue that can be separated from palm oil mill effluent.
Inedible plants containing oil: jatropha, Calophyllum inophyllum, moringa oleifera,

PRODUCTION PROCESS

Vegetable oils such as palm oil have a high viscosity and cannot be used directly in vehicles without modifying the engine and fuel system. Therefore, vegetable oils are usually converted to FAME for use in diesel vehicles, because FAME has a viscosity closer to that of fossil diesel fuel.

All raw materials require pretreatment to remove gums and other contaminants before undergoing the process. Raw materials from waste oil in particular have several contaminants, such as free fatty acids (FFA) which can reduce the quality and yield of biodiesel production.

2. Green Diesel/Bio Hydrocarbon Diesel/Pestable diesel oil

It has a molecular structure like fossil diesel oil but with better characteristics. Green Diesel is produced by hydrotreating triglycerides in vegetable oil using hydrogen. Compared to diesel oil and biodiesel, Green Diesel has a relatively higher cetane number, lower sulfur content, better oxidation stability and a clearer color.

Eco friendly fuel Green Diesel is also known as renewable diesel oil, hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), hydrogenation-derived renewable diesel (HDRD) or hydro processed esters and fatty acids (HEFA). Green diesel is processed by fractional distillation which is usually used to produce diesel oil.

3. Green-gasoline/Bioethanol/Vegetable gasoline

A fuel is a mixture of chemical elements similar to standard gasoline but derived from plants. Bioethanol is an alcohol made by fermentation of carbohydrates produced by plants such as sugar and starch. BioEthanol, known as ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, is often also abbreviated as EtOH.

EtOH is known as a light alcohol and is a volatile, colorless, flammable liquid with a characteristic odor that characterizes this type of fuel. EtOH burns completely where flame is invisible and biodegradable. Please be careful as EtOH attracts water when stored. Another characteristic of EtOH is the formation of an azeotropic mixture with water.

4. Bioavtur/biojet/Biofuel Jet

It is an alternative fuel for airplanes with turbine engines produced by hydrogenation technology, breaking down vegetable oil components using hydrogen. It can be made from vegetable oil, sugar, animal fat or even waste biomass and can be used on existing jet aircraft without requiring modification.

Compared to avtur from crude oil, bioavtur is more environmentally friendly and has the properties of cleaning and lubricating the engine.

5. Dimethyl Ether

Dimethyl ether (Dimethyl ether) or commonly called DME is a type of fuel consisting of organic compounds. Dimethyl ether is touted as a fuel that will replace liquified petroleum gas (LPG).

The chemical formula for the organic compound DME is written as CH3OCH3. This DME is produced from the processing of natural gas, processed products and other hydrocarbons whose utilization is used as fuel.

DME as fuel for the regulation of supply, distribution and utilization is subject to and applies to the provisions of laws and regulations in the field of oil and gas business activities.

6. Natural Gas

Natural gas, also known as natural gas or swamp gas, is a gaseous fossil fuel consisting mainly of methane CH4). It can be found in oil fields, natural gas fields and also coal mines.

When a gas rich in methane is produced through the decomposition by anaerobic bacteria of organic materials other than fossils, it is called biogas. Sources of biogas can be found in swamps, landfills, and human and animal waste collections.

The gas coming out of the gas turbine still has a fairly high temperature. Thus, the hot gas can still be utilized. One of the uses of the hot gas is to heat the working fluid used in PLTU, through a tool called HRSG (Heat Recovery Steam Generator).

The combination of a gas turbine and a steam turbine in generating electricity is known as PLTGU (Gas and Steam Power Plant).

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