Biodiesel has proven to be the promising alternative fuel to fossil petrofuels. It can be produced from a variety of feedstocks, without depending on only one particular type of feedstock. The paper gives an overview of biodiesel production process and important plant equipment that form the core of the process. A study on the various commercial companies manufacturing and supplying various equipments for producing biodiesel has been carried out. A comparative analysis of the equipment available commercially, has been carried out for various parameters like, power requirement and capacity. A plant layout of the typical infrastructure and production facility has also been given. This paper, therefore presents an insight to the set-up of small to medium capacity biodiesel plants for the commercial production of biodiesel.

Biodiesel refers to diesel-equivalent, processed fuel, derived from biological sources such as vegetable oils and animal fats. Though derived from biological sources, it is a processed fuel that can be readily used in diesel-engine operated vehicles. This is the feature that distinguishes biodiesel from the Straight Vegetable Oils (SVO) or Waste Cooking Oils (WCO) used as fuels in some modified diesel vehicles. Biodiesel refers to alkyl esters prepared by transesterification of triglycerides present in vegetable oils and/or animal fats. It is a biodegradable, non-toxic fuel, and emits significantly fewer emissions than petroleum diesel. Biodiesel functions in current diesel engines, and can supplement fossil fuels as the world's primary transport energy source. It can be used as an additive in the formulations of petroleum diesel to increase the lubricity of pure Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD). Biodiesel can be used in pure form (B100) or may be blended with petroleum diesel in any proportion in most modern diesel engines. Blends of up to 20% biodiesel with 80% petroleum diesel can be used in all diesel engines, and are compatible with most existing storage and distribution equipment. These low level blends (20%) and, less do not require any engine hardware modifications.

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