Vegetable Oils and Biofuels

Emulsifiers

food additives that prevent oil and water mixtures in food from separating.

Vegetable Oils

oils found in seeds, nuts and some fruit.

hexane

Due to its high extraction power and low boiling point, vegetable oils are usually extracted from the oilseeds using this.

oil refining

Crude vegetable oils have to undergo through this process to remove undesirable components.

glycerol and fatty acids

Vegetable oil consists of these molecules

lard

Example of saturated oil

monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats

2 categories of unsaturated oils

monounsaturated fats

one double bond in each fatty acid

polyunsaturated fats

more than one double bond

Saturated oil

- tend to be solid at room temperature

- sometimes called vegetable fats

Unsaturated oil

- tend to be liquid at room temperature

- healthier option in diet than saturated fats

Emulsions

- thicker and more viscous than oil or water they contain

- salad dressing and ice cream

oil droplets in water, water droplets in oil

2 main types of emulsion

oil droplets in water

milk, ice cream, salad cream, mayonnaise

water droplets in oil

margarine, butter, skin cream, moisturizing lotion

Emulsifiers

are substances that stabilize emulsions, stopping them from separating out

hydrophilic, hydrophobic

Emulsifiers have two different ends

Bromine water test

Detects unsaturation in oils by turning colorless when reacting with double bonds, while staying orange with saturated fats.

Hydrogenation

the process of hardening unsaturated vegetable oils by reacting them with hydrogen at around 60°C using a nickel catalyst, converting double bonds into single bonds to form saturated fats.

Biofuels

fuels produced directly or indirectly from organic material - biomass - including plant materials and animal waste.

Primary biofuels

such as fuelwood, wood chips and pellets, organic materials are used in an unprocessed form, primarily for heating, cooking or electricity production.

Secondary biofuels

result from processing of biomass and include liquid biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel that can be used in vehicles and industrial processes.

Ethanol

a type of alcohol that can be produced using any feedstock containing significant amounts of sugar.

Biodiesel

- produced by combining vegetable oil or animal fat with an alcohol.

- can be blended with traditional diesel fuel or burned

in its pure form in compression ignition engines.

First-generation biofuel

- Include ethanol produced from crops containing sugar and starch and biodiesel from oilseeds.

Second-generation biofuel

composed of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin

Third-generation biofuel

are produced from algae.

Advanced Biofuels

Second and third generation biofuels are also called _____.

pyrolysis, hydrothermal liquefaction, thermal deconstruction

High-temperature deconstruction

Pyrolysis

A process that thermally decomposes feedstock without oxygen to produce bio-oil rich in oxygenated compounds, which must be upgraded before use as fuel.

Hydrothermal Liquefaction

Converts wet feedstock into bio-oil using heat and pressure in water, followed by further reactor processing.

Thermal Deconstruction

- Breaks down feedstock at temperatures above 700°C using steam or oxygen to produce gas, which is then cleaned and conditioned.

- Gasification

Low-temperature deconstruction

uses enzymes, heat, or catalysts to break down feedstock into sugars through pretreatment and hydrolysis, producing fuel or chemical building blocks.

Titration

- A method of chemical analysis to determine the concentration of the analyte present.

- It helps determine how much lye is needed.

Bioenergy

is renewable energy from biomass—recently living organic material—used to produce fuels, heat, electricity, and other products.