Taking it neat - or home brew?
Ports may be able to take advantage of biodiesel developments
If a port wants to go the whole way to reduce its carbon footprint or, for example, if it is in a developing country, one alternative may be to convert the engine to burn straight plant oils.
This is an option “for those who want fuel security without the requirement of an expensive biodiesel production plant”, says Mark Neilson of Cambridge Ethical Fuels.
Engine conversion providers like Elsbett recomend oils like jatropha or rapeseed (canola) – although in most cases diesel fuel will still be needed for starting and purging at the end of the day.
Mr Neilson says: “In most cases the kit involves preheating the fuel to get the viscosity right and a ‘twin-tank’ arrangement so that, once heated up, the engines switch over to the biofuel. In reality, most German engine manufacturers have been making engines that can take 100% biodiesel for a number of years, and it isn’t a great burden to change over.”
Liebherr, for example, has been making units that can, if requested, run on 100% RME biodiesel. In most cases, elastomer seals in the fuel system are exchanged with Viton (NMO) grade GBL-S. However, untreated fuel derived from plant oils can come under pressure from polymers and acids. Deposits build up on injection nozzles or sludge forms in the bottom of tanks, so users would probably be looking at fuel additives (like Soltron or Baynox Plus) or an extra processing element to avoid this – another expense to budget for.
On the other hand, says Mr Neilson, it is possible that ports could take on production of biodiesel themselves. Since port vehicles would not be road users, duties might well not apply – and, according to Mr Neilson, production is not that difficult.
“What you would need in a port to homebrew diesel is enough space to place the production facility away from restricted areas. You do have potentially dangerous chemicals like sodium hydroxide (caustic soda), methanol, crude glyserol and hot oils to deal with. But, with the right kind of equipment, you could make it fairly easily.”
And he makes another interesting suggestion: “An imported flexitank of used cooking oil in an ordinary container could hold around 32,000 litres – producing approximately 25,000 litres of biodiesel.”
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