Nonpetroleum Liquid Fuels

Over the past few years, established analytical chemical methodology for crude oil and refined petroleum derivatives has been extended to the rapidly expanding field of coal liquefaction products and has assisted in the substantive reappraisal of such potential liquid fuel sources as oil shale, tar sands, and similar bitumenous deposits. While many of the analytical problems of separation, identification, and characterization are common to all of these fields, each area exhibits distinct requirements calling for specific development of appropriate methodology. Indeed, the added chemical complexity of the nonpetroleum-based liquid fuel sources presents many novel challenges to the chemical investigator. 

Biodiesel is a renewable nonpetroleum-based diesel fuel, which consists of monoalkyl (mainly methyl, ethyl, or propyl) esters of long chain fatty acids produced from vegetable oils or animal fats by transesterification with methanol or ethanol. Certain fuel characteristics have made biodiesels an attractive alternative liquid fuel to be used as such or as a constituent of a blend with petro diesel (Delfort et al., 2008). It is known to enhance engine performance through its better lubricity and more complete burning (Pramanik and Tripathi, 2005 Boumay et al., 2005 Knothe et al., 2005). It has a high flash point, better viscosity, and a caloric... 

More recently, the chemical industry has seen the need to look beyond petroleum to processes for converting nonpetroleum materials to feedstocks (1,15). These processes, all fuel-oriented but having feedstock potential in varying degrees, usually deal with coal-derived liquids, shale oil, and biomass. 

---